Q:  If you lock both your spouse and your dog in the trunk of your car, and check on them an hour later, who will be happy to see you? 

A:  If you are a dog owner, you know the answer.  Therefore, you know who your true love is.

After returning from our vacation to Virginia Beach, having a teenage houseguest for 2 weeks and running all over the place nearly every single day during that time, I allowed the house to go to pot.  Namely the upstairs, which consists of the kids' bedrooms and a bathroom.  I don't think I went upstairs one time since coming home from the beach (other than initially cleaning the bathrooom and providing clean towels and sheets for my nephew).  I'm sure you can guess what happened.  I went up there yesterday and it was an absolute pigsty.  Especially the girls' room.  AJ's room fared pretty well, since all he & D. really did in there was watch TV, play videogames, and sleep.  But since my girls like to put on makeup, paint their nails, draw, cut, glue, and play with Littlest Pet Shops, baby dolls, stuffed animals, and Barbie and friends in their Dreamhouse (plus a million little pieces of clothes and tiny Barbie accessories) - and add to that shoes and several days worth of dirty clothes flung on the floor and shoved under the bed - well, let's just say their room looked like the aftermath of a pink and purple war.  It was horrible, and I felt like a horrible mother for letting it get this bad. 

My first instinct was to spend my day cleaning and reorganizing their room while plopping them in front of the TV in the basement to get them out of the way.  But I knew this was a learning opportunity for them.  So I directed my 6-year-old and 10-year-old in how to clean up a huge, overwhelming mess - by themselves.  I got them started, and by the end of the day, they had accomplished the impossible.

The first thing I had them do was make up their bed.  Now they had one clear surface to work on (believe me, there were no clear surfaces anywhere -just an ankle-deep sea of colorful toys and clothes).  I shoved some items on the floor aside to make room for a trash bag, a laundry hamper, a large wicker basket, and two large plastic boxes - all lined up side-by-side.  Then I instructed them to start on the far corner of the room by the bed, working alongside the wall.  They were to deal quickly with every single item as they moved along the wall to the other end, and I showed them how to work. 

The first thing I picked up was a stuffed animal.  I said, "This belongs in the stuffed animal basket," and tossed it into the basket.  The next thing was a Barbie.  I put the Barbie on the bed and said, "This is the Barbie pile.  All Barbies and Barbie items go in this pile."  Then I picked up a dirty shirt and a sock.  "This is laundry," I said as I tossed them into the hamper.  And so on.  One plastic box was for closet items - if they picked up something that belonged in the closet, then they tossed it into the "closet box."  The other plastic box was for things that did not belong in their room - dirty cups, for example, that belonged in the kitchen.  Or, Mom's scissors (so that's what happened to those things!).    The trash bag was, of course, for trash.  For other things, they were to make piles of items that go together on the bed - a pile of Barbies, a pile of Pet Shops, a pile of hair accessories, and so on.  I told them when they got to the other side of the wall, to stop and put their sorted items away in their proper places.  Then they would begin on the next wall.  I left. 

I checked on them periodically through the day, and they were always hard at work, lively Hannah Montana music blasting on their CD player.  I allowed them to take a lunch break, and then sent them back to work.  They actually became enthused as the day went by and they could see the progress they were making. 

At around 3:00, Sky asked if she could vacuum.  I told her I could do it, since they had worked so hard, but she said, "No I want to do it, I want you to be surprised when you see our room."  So I gave her the vacuum, and Emma retrieved the Pledge and dust cloth.  After a few minutes, they bounded down the stairs, beaming.  "Come look, Mommy!" 

I went upstairs and found a beautiful, tidy, lemon Pledge scented bedroom, as organized and put together as if I had done it myself.  I was proud of them - but even better, they were proud of themselves.  Emma told me, "Mommy, from now on, I will NEVER leave my toys out after playing.  I would much rather clean up a little mess than a great big mess like that again!" 

Never say never - but I do think the lesson was learned - for both them AND myself.  Boy, am I ever embarrassed to write about how bad I let things get, but I will "never" leave my kids to themselves for 2 weeks again!

Hoping to be back in July or August.