Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Happy Working Song

There's a reason all the princesses in Disney movies sing while they clean.

It's the only thing that helps make it go quicker. Heh.

I've noticed that if I'm trying to pick up and the house is quiet... or there's cartoons on in the background... it takes FOREVER. And I generally quit before I've gotten everything done (yes, I said it. I quit). But when I've got something to sing to or (God forbid) dance too, it makes it seem less like a job that I have to do. And more like something that doesn't really suck as bad as it should.



Now, there ARE people who enjoy cleaning. Who don't need music blasting just to make it through the task. They have a place for everything and put everything in it's place. They're organized and have labels and containers for things and when they're finished everything looks super neat.

I am not one of those people.

My kids are not those people either.

My daughters room is currently a mess. And the mess needs to go away. She hates to pick up though. And I don't blame her. I can't expect her to love something even I can't stand to do. So I am determined to make picking up her room fun for her in some way. I'm still trying to figure out that way, but I'm pretty sure I'll come up with something. If she's excited to do something, she does it with gusto. If not? Then when I ask/tell her to do something the answer is "No. That's very boring." How's that for a 2 and a half year old. Haha.

With Alanna, I've found that even just putting a sing-a-long in the VCR (yes, I am ancient and I still have one) makes the thought of picking up the aftermath of her hurricane a little more bearable (bareable?). Perhaps the same will work with Lydia. We have yet to see.

Moral of this all over the place story?

If YOU hate doing something, your kids generally won't like it anymore than you do. And you can't expect them to have their room spic and span in no time if while YOU clean you grumble the whole time. Make it fun. Sing. Dance. Be silly. Not only does it get them more in the spirit, it also makes the cleaning seem to take a whole lot less time than it otherwise would.


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