Unexpectedly, 4 year old Ball is usually the best. She loves having a clean floor and takes pride in her work. She often hits me up for multiple compliments on a job well done. However, on this particular day, she was not going for it. She told me that she refused to clean her room unless I helped her. Let me translate this for you: she would willingly lay on the floor doing nothing while I picked up everything.
Neither of us was subscribing to the other's plan. I threw down the gauntlet. I told her I was leaving and she needed to get to work or the next time she saw me, I would have a garbage bag and the stuff on the floor would go in it. (I know, I'm a hard ass.) Five minutes later Ball was downstairs whining that she really needed my help. I warned her again to go upstairs and get to work.
Once the dishes were in the dishwasher, I walked upstairs with my garbage bag. Ball was laying on the floor and not one thing had been picked up. She saw my garbage bag and didn't care. I picked up every item and placed it in my bag letting her know it was gone. (Gone means in my closet for a really long time because I can't handle throwing anything away.) There was not even a whimper from her. When my bag was full and her floor was clean she looked at me and said "Thanks for cleaning my room Momma."
What do you do when you have a parenting fail?
