Ruined Test Scores

I've posted before that getting the little girls to clean up their room is almost impossible. The other day, I told them at 8pm that they weren't going to bed until their room was clean. I sat down and watched American Idol. I could hear them fighting and playing, but I didn't go check on them until American Idol was over at 9pm.

I went in there and of course nothing had been done. So I stood in the doorway and told them I wasn't leaving, and they weren't going to bed until the room was cleaning. Crocadile tears started flowing. Madi said "I JUST want to go to BED. You're keeping me up late and I'm not going to get a good nights sleep. I have state assessment tests in the morning and you're going to make the WHOLE SCHOOL have a bad grade!!!!"

Carlie kept asking what time it was...I told her it didn't matter...keep going. She finally whined "It must be 6:30am already....you've made us work ALL NIIGGGGGHHHHT!!!" (It was really 9:45pm) LOL.

It took them until 10pm to get it done, and they've been alot better about keeping it picked up since then.

If it's not picked up I'll throw it away

We've been having a hard time getting the little girls to clean their room up. They both claim that the other one is not helping to clean, they fight, they play, they complain....pretty much everything EXCEPT clean. So last week, I'd had it. I went in there and picked up everything that was not put away and put it in trash bags, including Carlie's precious stuffed dog 'Trudy" and Madi's favorite stuffed monkey. They bawled and squalled. They said they couldn't survive without their favorite stuffed animals. so I told them if they kept it cleaned up for a week, they could earn back ONE toy. So far, they made it the first week and got a toy back. We'll see how long it lasts. They were absolutely shocked when I came in there with my trash bag. LOL.

Cleaning the Kitchen When the Kids were Little

This was written when Frank was 5, Libby was 4, Madi was 2 and Carie was a newborn.

We have been cleaning the kitchen. We had so much fun. I gave Frank, Libby and Madi all wipes and they wiped down EVERYTHING. I get the cheap orange spray at the Dollar Store for a $1 for a big bottle. We used about half of one. LOL. Madi was right in the middle saying *I want some spray. I want some spray.* Then I got out the mops. I had two good ones. So I used one, and I set the timer on the stove for five minutes. So they each got to mop five minutes, and the one who wasn't mopping got to water my flowers.

Now my kitchen is sparkly clean. I didn't want to mess the floors up, so I sent the big kids outside to eat with a picnic.