Real Housework

     I had big plans for Spring Break; two days with nothing but fun on the agenda.  That's right, Spring Cleaning.  It was time for my kids to learn about real housework.  Blondie has had life pretty easy, Dude is perfectly capable of handling everything on my  list, and it's never too young for Ball to learn some valuable life skills.

     Surprisingly, my plan was met with little resistance and mild enthusiasm.  Here is my kids' spin on cleaning.  Maybe you can use these selling points on your own minions, er I mean children.

     Blondie thinks cleaning sucks and using cleaning products is hazardous to your health.  In spite of her wonderfully positive attitude, at the end of two days she did everything that was asked of her and even begrudgingly admitted that it was nice to be able to see her bedroom floor and find books on her bookshelves.
    
     Ball loves vacuuming.  She told me this about five times while ramming the vacuum into her bedroom furniture.  She also loves washing walls.  More accurately, she loves soaking her arms in the warm soapy (kinda dirty) water and working just long enough to justify putting her rag, (arms) back in the water.  Ball took great pride in her work and added her smile to all her assigned tasks.

Ball's method for washing walls

     Dude likened the Windex bottle to a gun and volunteered to clean every window and mirror in my house.   He also thinks the long plastic tube on the vacuum cleaner with the dust attachment is like a ninja spear and he ferociously attacked all our dust bunnies.

     Spring Cleaning was finished Thursday.  Saturday at dinner Dude pulled me away from the table to show me something very important!  He lead me to our banister and pointed to it; a minuscule amount of dust.  We could only go back to the table after I promised to tackle this evil enemy later.

     In all  of this I was trying to teach my kids important lessons.  Meanwhile I probably learned the most valuable one: be careful when you teach a child with obsessive tendencies about cleaning.  For Dude I either equipped him with wonderful tools or set him up for complete mental breakdown.  Only time will tell.

Windex On, Windex Off

      It's Spring Break time for the kids.  I have planned a couple of fun activities for the kids: 2 days at camp, a play date for the boy, and maybe a trip to SeaWorld before we're all back in school.  We will have fun.  

     I, however, am most looking forward to some serious spring cleaning.  My kids are getting enlisted because it's time they learn some basic survival skills.

1) Mirror and Window cleaning -  each will experience the miracle that is Windex and paper towels while removing their sloppy wet mouth and hand prints from glass surfaces in our house.

2) Washing walls - a bucket of soapy water and a small rag will become their new best friend as they remove grimy hand prints from assorted vertical locations.

3) Organization - shared areas like the art cabinet, kids' closets, and toy boxes will be restored to their former glory where a tool or toy could be found easily in minutes.

4) Dusting - I "Pledge" they will dust every horizontal surface in their bedroom; seriously dusted, as in pulling books off shelves and dusting behind them dusted.

5) Floors - At minimum, they will vacuum their own bedroom.  If a toy or two get sucked up, it's a valuable lesson and a removal of unnecessary crap from the house.  Win win!  If they're extra lucky, they get to clean some floors "Cinderella style" (down on their hands and knees with a rag).

     If all goes well this whole process should take less than three hours.  But I know my children, which is why I have allotted two whole days.  Now I'm wondering if I can build this up as a form of martial arts camp ala Mr. Miyagi - "Windex on, Windex off".  Just call me the Ninja Master.

locked and loaded