The Day

We had a monumental day a couple of weeks ago. The magnitude of the day keeps showing itself, so I figured I should share with the world the positive side effects from "The Day." A couple of weeks ago we had finally set up a playdate with one of our new homeschool friends, well really, it would be the first time that the girls had really met these new friends. It had taken some effort to coordinate and I was a little nervous about having new people in to our home. So I went all out, as in, I cleaned my house! I offer that courtesy only to first time visitors. After that, you get to see how we really live. The girls room was a MESS!! You couldn't even walk through the floor. So I set them about the task to clean it. They actually volunteered to clean as soon as the finished breakfast; they were so excited to have a new friend come over to play. We had until 1:00pm, so we had PLENTY of time! The girls asked for my help so I helped them designate tasks and break chores into steps. It awful hard not to get sidetracked when you're putting away all those fun toys. Let's just say the girls focus was challenged. After an hour and a half of work, the room didn't look much better. They were starting to get tired and come up with all sorts of ailments that would prevent them from cleaning their room. Time was ticking! I let them know that if their room wasn't cleaned, they would not be able to have their new friend over. Humph, they didn't really like that! After one more hour their room still wasn't clean. It was now noon. I knew that with as long as it takes for them to eat lunch, there was no chance of the room getting cleaned before our company came over. I made a tough choice, but knew it was the right thing to do. I picked up the phone and called the mom. I let her know that my girls were not behaving today and that it would not be a good day for a playdate. She surprisingly understood and said her kids weren't in that good of a mood either. The girls were upset. I expected as much and honestly would have been disappointed if they weren't. But really, they made the choice, not me. So now it's nap time. I encourage them to rest because they are in a bad mood, informing them that it would help give them a more positive attitude. For some reason, they did not heed my advice. The played all during naptime, interrupting the nap that I should have gotten. Mommy was NOT a happy camper. Naptime generally ends around 4pm. Some might stop with punishment after the canceled playdate, but that wasn't the point was it? I told them to clean their room and they didn't. It was time to learn a lesson! I let them know that they were to finish cleaning their room before they could have any dinner. But surely I couldn't be serious? I wouldn't deprive them of dinner? Try me! We don't live in the third world, they aren't starving. They will survive! And, their room will be clean! They huffed and puffed testing the limits. I set about making dinner and playing with Sydney. By the time dinner was ready at 5:30, they were still not finished. Sydney and I had a lovely dinner together. It just so happened to be bath night as well, the girls favorite. I let them know that if they didn't clean their room in time, not only would they miss dinner, but also bathtime. Once they saw me eat dinner alone, I think they were starting to get the point that I was serious. Oh, but once I started the bath water for Sydney they really got the point! By 6:30pm they finally had a clean room! By this point they were VERY proud of their accomplishment. They realized that they really could clean their room all by themselves! Their food was waiting for them at the table. I didn't even hear them complain about what I made! I put Sydney to bed and then gave them their bath and got them ready for bed. Even if the story ended there, it would have been a good one! But no, it goes on! The next day was prayer group day, which means a few moms and their kids come over and the moms talk and pray while the kids play. The kids had a great time and when they left, the room was still clean! They had picked up after themselves, a first! Ever since that fateful day, the girls have been able to reasonably keep their room clean. They even voluntarily clean it up on their own. It makes a mom proud! That day was not a fun one. As a mom it can be hard to follow through with consequences. Now that my girls have such a since of accomplishment and responsibility, I'm glad I stuck to my guns.