Getting the Kids to Clean Their Room

I usually end up cleaning my girls' room four times a day, and at bedtime, it is messy again. We're not even mentioning the other rooms. I have always wondered how some women manage to keep a pristine home when they have two or three small children.

This week, I'm starting a new sticker reward program for my children. They will receive 3 stickers a day for

1. making their beds in the morning
2. putting things away when they are done using them
3. having a clean room at bedtime

There will be one more opening for extra effort, which could take the place of a missing sticker elsewhere.

At the end of each week, if they have earned all of their stickers, they will receive a small prize. At the end of each month, they will be able to earn a bigger prize.

The sticker reward system has worked very well for us in the past and I have high hopes for this project.

If you have a particular method that has worked well for you, please share it in the comments section.

Joyful Mess in the Mud

Yesterday I had 4 children at my house; my 2 and another 2 siblings. It was a very hot day and as they were playing outside, they discovered the water spicket.

We have recently planted grass, but as of right now, our yard is mainly dirt and weeds and the copious application of water made a very large mud puddle.

I wasn't too worried, figuring I could just wash off their hands and feet as I had the day before, with a bucket full of soapy water. Unfortunately, they took it a little farther yesterday, getting absolutely covered from head to toe. Hair, faces, clothes and extremities were smeared with brown, gloppy goo. Oh, man!

Wondering how I was going to get them all into the bathroom without getting mud all over the house, my eyes alighted upon the children's plastic swimming pool. I filled it with water and went for towels and wash clothes, instructing the children to go ahead and get in, clothes and all. (Most of the clothes came off, of course. What fun is it to get into a pool with your clothes on?)

I had to scrub pretty good, but finally all 4 of them emerged fairly mud-free, clean enough to enter the house in any case.

I am afraid that I don't always take these things in complete stride. I sometimes become a little stressed out and agitated, but the children had an absolutely wonderful time. Looking back at their happy little faces and the pure joy that only mud can bring, the clean-up was a small price to pay.

Moving Day

This week we have been moving. We're only moving two houses down, but the amount of work it is taking, shuttling things back and forth, is amazing.

Young children, of course, slow things down considerably. They want to help, but often end up sitting and unpacking something that has just been packed. During meals and nap time, parents have to work in shifts.

I started moving things on Friday morning. By Friday night, we had moved most of our things to the new house. On Saturday, we were shopping for items that were necessary to make the house livable and continuing moving the small things.

On Sunday, today, we spent the day cleaning the old house and trying to organize the new one. Tomorrow is a regular work day and we have to be pretty much settled.

The long hours and hard work are starting to show. The children are overly tired, arguing and fussing. Hopefully we will be done in a few hours and be able to take a breather.

We will be without an Internet connection until sometime late next week, so this will be the last post for a few days.