February 4, 2013

That Was Painful …

Whew! We are done with THE EXPERIMENT.

I’m going to be honest though – I caved on Saturday when I couldn’t stare at the plate of waffles and syrup one more minute. Big C was lazily sitting on the couch playing a game on his iPod and I just about lost it. When I asked him about the plate his response was, “I put that on the counter but you never washed it.”

Excuse me? WHAT DID YOU SAY?

When he picked up the fork, the entire plate came with it! Yes – the plate, fork, syrup and waffles had become one entity. NASTY.

I am waiting for good light so I can run around the house and snap photos today to share tomorrow. But I did get a picture of Hannie B’s room on Saturday morning. When she saw me taking a picture a little light bulb went off in her mind. The look on her face said, “We are definitely NOT going to be in a magazine.”

A few observations from the week:

  • Not one of my kids made a bed or did one of their every day chores the entire week.
  • I can overlook a lot of messy, but I can’t handle dirty dishes. Although I never unloaded the dishwasher, I did hand wash dishes throughout the week . . . just not the waffles.
  • I had to completely retrain my own brain to stop picking up stuff every minute of the day.
  • The only reason the kitchen trash went out is because RedDog tripped over the bag I’d left sitting on the floor.
  • Even though my kids live in a pretty clean home, they are completely blind to their own messes.
  • Our stairs were a serious hazard this week, littered with random toys, books, clothes – you name it.
  • A few things went “missing” in the chaos. When kids asked me where they were, I just shrugged and said, “I don’t know.”

Tonight we’ll have a Family Home Evening and reveal the experiment to the kids. The discussion is going to include the possibility of reduced allowance, how we all contribute to making this house a great place to live, how a house of order is the best place for everyone to function successfully, and how certain “chores” should be a part of daily living without reminders from mom.

Pictures of the house plus the kids’ reaction tomorrow.

7 comments:

Apis Melliflora said...

I await the shock & awe pictures of tonight's Family Home Evening with great anticipation.

Way to make it through the week, Dragonfly! You have nerves of steal!

Apis Melliflora said...

Steel.

brendag said...

I am so impressed with your ability to endure to the end! I have wanted to do something like this for years but know I would blow it in a day or two.

You are my hero!

Aiketa said...

Looking forward to tomorrow's post. It must have been hard for you (I think it would have been for me too). But I think it's a great way to show them that things don't get done as if by magic...

I hope tomorrow you tell us that they have learned the lesson.

The Queen Vee said...

I hope it makes a difference, can't wait to see the pictures.

Sue said...

I'm feeling a little chagrined because the After picture doesn't look that bad to me!

Janie said...

Certain chores should be a part of everyday life without reminders from Mom, but I'm having a hard time making anyone care. I think they would all be perfectly fine stepping over things, sleeping in rumpled beds, not having clean clothes, eating out of the can or box forever.. well maybe they would mind not having clean clothes....