An Experiment Of Epic Proportions …

Have you ever said any of the following things either in your head or aloud?

• If I have to do one more load of laundry . . .
• I am so tired of picking up after my kids . . .
• All I ever do is clean the house and then watch it get messy again . . .
• So-and-so {fill in your child’s name} please make your bed, pick up your clothes, shut the fridge door {fill in chore or every day task of your choice} . . .
• I do not like scrubbing the toilet or the pee that surrounds it at all . . .
• There is just too much stuff everywhere, all the time . . .

I have! I say many of these things, multiple times a week. I feel like I am a pick up machine.

Owlie takes every cushion AND pillow off the couch and chairs at least three times a day. That means I replace them 42 times a day. He is also a chronic toy dumper. The toy he wants is never at the top of the basket, but always at the bottom. Clean up is not his friend.

Big C has a room in the basement which I choose not to see more than three times a week. Those three times I do see it usually include laundry (both clean and dirty) on the floor, towel (wet) on the floor, bed -unmade, body odor – present and accounted for, papers wadded or folded up and placed on all horizontal surfaces. It is not even at all close to awesome.

RedDog is a hider. He hides stuff everywhere. Under the bed, behind the bed, on the bookshelf, in pockets, in pockets of pants shoved under the bed, anywhere and everywhere he can imagine. He is also the great half-doer. Anything he is asked to do he does half of.

Hannie B. tries on multiple outfits a day, all of which end up on her floor and then get put in her dirty clothes even though she’s never worn them.  She has a toiletry issue {she IS a teenage girl, afterall} in which her toiletries multiply, divide and then never get put away.

My kids are rock stars. My kids are amazing and funny and smart. But, my kids are also going through a very busy, MESSY phase. And I’m so over it.

So today, the experiment begins. All those things I said up at the top of this post have propelled me to action. Starting today, for ONE WEEK, I am not going to do a load of laundry, take out any trash, pick up a single item my kids leave around, remind them to do any of their basic or not-so-basic chores, or clean up their messes.

NONE OF IT. FOR ONE WEEK.

We are going to see just how bad it can get before they can’t stand it any more. We are going to see how disgusting this house can be before they decide ON THEIR OWN to take responsibility for their personal space and their role in this family and home.

Yep, I’m totally going to stop being the mom.

And then a week from now, we will either be living in a complete pigsty and I will find that the only reason any one does anything around here is because I am a nag . . .

OR

My kids will surprise me and actually do something without being reminded.

I have taken pictures of my entire house in its cleanest state to show you tomorrow.

And then I’ll take pictures at the end of the week.

It should be fun. At least for me, because I don’t have anything to do this week!

PS. Please pray for my Hubby. He is on board for this experiment, but it is going to be VERY difficult for him. I have promised that our room will remain a tidy safe haven for both of us. :)

Do you think I’m crazy?