Tuesday

I know - I missed a day of journaling. I wrote a blurb this morning.

Today went really well. I expected it to be rough to get everyone back into the routines, but I was pleasantly surprised.
We got up and I had LegoQueen start working on her lessons at 9 am sharp. We are moving our "school" schedule up an hour, so that we can start fitting in more errand days and extra activities. We did break at 10 and hit Lowes for a few last minute touch ups and a new light for the area in front of the downstairs bathroom. In that time we went to Lowes, to the car dealership to pick up plates (don't even get me started on the ass chewing I gave) and then to Home Depot for lawn fertilizer. They had veggies out already, so I snapped up lettuce, peas, spinach, and onions. I can't wait.
We got back at exactly 11, so I sent LegoQueen to finish reading on Beethoven and I sat with Drama Queen and did a couple of worksheets that she wanted to try. She's one smart cookie, I say! Hairy Boy sat in his room building with Duplos. He's been whiny all day so I figured if he was quiet, I wasn't gonna bug him.
Lunch at 12, and then at 1 it was time to get back to work. I am VERY proud about how well the kids listen when it comes to doing their homework.

Now.....I'm not so proud when it comes to cleaning up. The rule in this house is that everyone helps. First you take care of your stuff, and then you help someone out. Well, my kids have it backwards. They want to do the "helping out" (unload dishwasher, sorting the laundry, dusting, etc) when the real things that needs attention are their ROOMS! They also do a better job cleaning up at OTHER people's houses. I'm tired of the mad scramble Thursday and Friday morning to get the rooms decent, because we don't go to park or club if the house isn't clean. There is no "do it later"
After reading the millionth testimonial about how grand the House Fairy is, I signed up. I had the kids watch the video, and not 2 seconds after it finished, they all scrambled to their rooms to clean up so that the House Fairy would leave them something. Hairy Boy was still whiny - he wanted a toy airplane that he had seen down the hill (now how the freak am I going to get THAT) and he was so sure that this Fairy would not get it for him, no matter how clean his room was. The girls were awesome though - they offered to help him out and they had his room done in 5 minutes. I was able to go in and vacuum.
Tomorrow night I have to go out and get some supplies so that the House Fairy can bring the kids a welcome letter and membership card. She also needs some type of "fairy dust" Oh - and a color ink cartridge for her printer :P I can't take the kids with me when I buy my supplies - they'll put 2 and 2 together. I'll also need some special lollipops to leave in their rooms when "House Fairy" makes her visit.
SO now that everyone thinks I have gone mad, I really haven't. I think this is worth at least trying. Right now the kids rooms are still clean - they are hoping for a treat.