A Mom's Gotta Do What a Mom's Gotta Do

Do you ever feel like you are constantly yelling/nagging/pleading with your kids to clean their room? If you do, you are not alone. With having 4 kids, our house could be spotless. The counters are free of dishes, the laundry is folded (I wish I could say put away but that would be lying), the floors are swept, and the toys are put away. And then the kids get home. I am going to risk sounding like my mom and dad right now and compare them to little tornadoes that leave trails of destruction everywhere they go. -Mom, stop laughing, its not funny.- 

So here's my dilemma: I know they've had a long day at school. I know that they are probably exhausted and need to be able to relax for a little while. So I put off the cleaning until later and, well, we all know that later never comes and what is left are rooms that are layered a few inches high with toys and clothes (and smell a little funny if I'm being honest :)

Then the thought of cleaning is overwhelming to them AND me, so we avoid it even more as the mess gets even worse until we have a get together or a babysitter coming and we are FORCED to clean. By that time, it takes a good part of the day to get it done and we are at each other's throats before it is finished.

Today, I had a bit of an epiphany. I am a mom, I am allowed to have epiphanies about cleaning ;) I thought to myself, "I bet I could make it a little fun. And if it is a little fun then they would be more apt to do it and I would be less apt to nag." Ok, so it's not rocket science, but when you are living life 100 miles an hour (see previous blog) you don't always have time for creative ideas. There's a mom shouting AMEN right now I can just feel it! 

So I decided to play on the competitive nature of my boys (and the little boy I babysit) and make it a contest. I assigned each boy a color (for example, Kasey had blue because he was wearing a blue shirt, Keagen had red because he was wearing red and Drew had yellow). They each stood at the bottom of the stairs and when I said "go!" they each ran upstairs to their room and picked up only that color. When they were done they had to run back downstairs. I timed each one separately with my cell phone's stopwatch and after each one was done I went upstairs to check and make sure all of that specific color was picked up. If they missed a toy I would add a second to their time. The winner got to pick out a snack and a movie for all of them.

And you know what? It worked! They each had a blast! Their room isn't spotless BUT you can see the floor. Kasey, the oldest boy, said to my surprise, "we should do this more often!" So there you go, a creative idea to get the room at least a little picked up without nagging or pleading.

Just thought I would share this idea with my blog peeps. Have a great day!

Here are the boys:  Kasey who is giving the thumbs up, Keagen who is pretending to be a baseball player and Drew who is giving a great big hug to his bestest friend!

Until next time...