Today was one of those tedious days that seem to drag on forever. Riley is out of town for a work convention in Spokane, I'm on my fifth day of battling a cold, and it was laundry day once again. On top of that, the majority of the day in between folding load after load of laundry and blowing my nose a gazillion times, was spent trying to get Kendle to clean her room.
This is a constant battle at our house. Even though I regularly throw junk from her room away (she 's a pack rat), it piles back up, and she goes through at least three outfits a day so there seem to be clothes everywhere. It's driving me crazy. So today it was time to clean up her room after us being away all weekend and I tried everything under the sun to get her to do it. This kid has negotiating skills that would rival any high profile trial lawyer. She knows it is one of her regular jobs and she is not supposed to get any extra money or treatment for cleaning it, but still she attempts to best me at my patience and sanity level. I do not think it is hard for a 5 year old to put her toys in the toy box, clothes in the hamper, shoes in the shoe box, and books in the bookcase. Four things. So as I type this, Kendle is in bed in her half clean room and I am still folding laundry and battling a giggling baby who isn't showing the slightest bit of sleepiness. Ain't life grand? Riley doesn't know what he's missing.
October 15, 2007
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6 comments:
I have had the same room cleaning battle with Dylan and then I got this great idea from Jessica's blog about the House Fairy. It has been amazing how great it works. Basically the House Fairy comes and checks on kids rooms at night while they sleep and occasionally she will leave a little treat when their room is kept clean. I know bribery, but guess what? I do not care it is working, and my hope is that my kids will get in the habit of keeping thier room clean before they learn the truth about the House Fairy. We have been doing it for about two weeks and it is working great.
I know what you mean about Kendle being a packrat. What is it with kids? They want to keep EVERYTHING. I guess when it comes to that, I have a hard time seeing their "treasures" through their eyes. All I see is JUNK!
Spencer just made Hannah clean out her room a few days ago. It's so nice in there now. He seems to be the one that can motivate her to clean it the best.
Oh, cleaning the room! The joys in my household! I hate it. I don't know what it is, but Sydnee does not know how to put her clothes in the laundry basket, or books away either! Fun times as a mom! I hope you start feeling better soon!
Rich is my biggest pack rat...
I once heard a story at homemaking or something (don't know if it was true or just a story to prove a point) about a mom who got tired of her kids not doing their regular expected jobs and at dinner that night she didn't cook dinner and left a sign on the kitchen table that said 'kitchen's closed - didn't feel like cooking'. Point being that this was one of her regular jobs and what would happen if she decided to not ever do it?" Anyway, I thought it was an interesting story. I'm not sure I could handle the "I'm hungry" whining that would go along with that, but a good point nonetheless.
Chores are a struggle at our house too, and I love the idea of closing the kitchen just because I don't feel like doing it. I might get up the nerve to try that real soon.
My kids are packrats too. Carson always says, "But, we can't get rid of THAT. It's special to me." Riiight! I will say Carson can be a decent cleaner, but Kaiya is the worst. I can tell she is going to be like me when I was a little girl. Whenever I was told I needed to clean, I would end up falling asleep to get out of it.
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