Parenting Secret

Your kids room is messy. You lovingly look them in the face and ask them to clean it. They "lovingly" stare at you, dark mist begins to form in their formerly cute little eyes and then it starts. They hammer you with excuses why they can't do it, throw themselves on the floor or jerk their body around in protest. Perhaps then frustration begins to bubble under your collar, steam begins to spout from your ears and a threat to throw all their toys away begins to situate itself on your lips. Sound familiar?

Today I happened upon a secret to help avoid this situation. Do I have your undivided attention? Let me share it with you.After seeing this picture, have I confused you? Do you think I vacuumed my children and then put them in the washer to clean up their room cleaning rebellious attitudes? Before you call CPS, let me elaborate.

You see I was vacuuming. The kids were breakfasted, dressed and ready for the day--part of the criteria that needs to be met before they watch tv while I get dressed. On the floor was that white laundry basket full of toys that needed to be put away. I told the girls to grab the basket and quickly see how many toys they could put away while I vacuumed. When the vacuumed stopped, their time was up. They complied because they knew it wouldn't last forever-- a few minutes of cleaning they could do. So I vacuumed the stairs.

In the time it took me to vacuum those 11 of the 12 stairs, BOTH girls neatly put away those toys in the basket. Olivia came out, grinned widely, pointed at me and said," WE BEAT YOU!" I smiled. I told her NO WAY..no way did they beat me. I told her she had to show me. I walked in that room and lo and behold..they had done it. I praised them, we cheered. No whining, no passive aggressive refusing to tidy , no threats on the security of their toys--nada. Just pleased giggles of triumph.

Now--do my girls have a completely tidy room right now? Nope. I would venture to guess that it would take 5 basket loads (that does include dolls and dress up clothes) on a very messy, pig stye level day. Right now, I think it is a 3 basket level of messy. But they did pick up. I think I will need to vacuum my downstairs at least twice a day now. This secret may not last me very long but I will work it for as long as it works. It helps them focus on what to do and not get overwhelmed by everything. I have made lists--do books, then clothes, then legos etc but that is only partially successful. I am going to try this out and see how it works. It is the magic bullet? No way! But anything that makes cleaning more fun is a good thing. I'll take it.

Besides, I really do love to vacuum.