I try my best to keep my house clean. I do what I can. I can usually get the dishes done and I try to keep the downstairs okay and I am pretty good at doing laundry (horrible at folding it and putting it away). My house is clean enough to be acceptable most of the time and that's okay with me. There are some areas of the house that are not a priority for me and the kid's room is one of those places. It's not my responsibility to clean their room and I always forget that it's messy until the end of the day so it's not really a good time to nag them to clean it. I do what I do with all unpleasant things that may be in my life, I close the door and try to forget it exists. It has gotten really bad though, it's a dumping ground.
I was expecting an old friend to come by and spend the night and I was going to let her sleep in the kid's room which meant it needed to be cleaned. I told them I would help because it was too big of a job for 2 little people. They are slobs. I'm no Martha Stewart but they just destroyed that room. I was prepared for anything. I would not have been surprised if we found Amelia Earhart's plane in there. We began to separate things, throw away papers and trash. I discovered one of their Easter baskets with grass just spilling out of it, a birthday card that my oldest made for my youngest for her 6th birthday (which was 10 months and 3 weeks ago), homework papers from April, a sealed bag that had "For Mom" on it. "What is this?" I asked my youngest. "Oh - that's a mother's day present I made for you." Well, thanks. I opened it and pulled out a candle holder filled with candy. They both came over and were trying to swipe the candy from me. They are little animals.
Bit by bit we made progress. Finally it was all clean. "Great job, guys!" I got out the vacuum and was ready to made the room shine. I could not figure out how to turn the damn thing on. We purchased it in February and I have not run it in so long I forgot how to work it. How sad is that. I felt ashamed and embarrassed. No wonder my kids are slobs. I obviously set a horrible example. Bad mom award. My 6 year old came over and turned in on for me. After I vacuumed my daughter said, "It looks so good - I will never let it get so messy ever again." I'm going to hold her to that. I threw the quilt and sheets in the wash and made a bed on the floor of my bedroom for the kids. I wasn't let them set foot in that clean room until my friend had come and gone.
They laid down for bed and my youngest said, "Mom, where is my quilt?" "It's in the wash, my friend will use it when she comes, you can use this comforter." She got so mad. "But MAMA, this is too heavy." I gave her another blanket, still too heavy. I have her an afghan, too long. We tried 2 sleeping bags, too uncomfortable. A folded up sheet, not heavy enough. She was getting so frustrated and I was ready to lose my mind. "I want my sister's blanket." It is this shabby floral comforter that is 10 years old. My eight year old wrapped it tight around her. "Please let her use it, I'll give you a dollar." She reluctantly gave it to her. I was glad. All that cleaning and blanket negotiations had me tired. I fell right asleep and dreamed about doing anything but vacuuming.
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