I often look at B, M and L and am brought back to my childhood. They are slobs. I'm not going to sugarcoat it, that's what they are. Whenever I complain to my Sister From Another Mister about how messy they are, she reminds me that I was the same way.
Growing up, our families would alternate monthly dinners at our houses. When we were at her house, we played games like Tag, Boys vs Girls and Nintendo. When they were at our house, SFAM and her sister (her real one) would clean my room. They didn't just put things away, they organized everything! I'd lay on my bed, talking to them about the latest Baby-Sitter's Club and Sweet Valley Twins books and they'd be alphabetizing my bookshelf and organizing my dolls. When they left, my room was always so much neater! I was always in awe of them, because try as I might, I just couldn't get my room like that without them. In fact, less than 24 hours later, it would be messy again. Oddly, they were always befuddled when they'd come back and my room was a mess again.
I am not sure what happened, but somewhere in my late 20's to early 30's I finally figured out how to clean. Not just that, but I actually enjoy it! I mean, don't get me wrong, I hate doing windows and mirrors and I hate cleaning the bathrooms. I'm not fond of ironing or folding and putting away clean clothes, either. What I like, though, is seeing something go from messy to organized in one swoop.
One week a month, I go through each of The Curly Girlies' bedrooms and organize it for them, much in the same fashion SFAM and her sister did for me. Just like me, they are always so appreciative of it and every time M says, "Oh! Thank you Mommy! I love it!" I always tell her the best way to show her appreciation is by keeping her room clean and organized.
"Oh, I will Mommy!," she always exclaims. And so she does, for exactly 3 days (2 and a half days longer than I did!). M is quite a pack rat and we always joke she's going to be on the show Hoarders when she's an adult (sometimes, I'm quite certain that's going to be the reality). She likes to hold on to every fast food toy, broken or not, scraps of paper that someone gave her, birthday cards from acquaintances and any other little odd and ends she can find. Case in point, L just came over to me telling me she doesn't want something anymore and I said, "OK, let's get rid of it then" and thinking, "How fitting, given this blog post!" M overheard and immediately started exclaiming, "Wait! I play with that! I'll keep it! L, you can't get rid of it! I think it's B's! B do you want it? I'll take it!"
Out of all the rooms, I love cleaning hers the best, because I love seeing the "Trash" and "Donate" piles adding up. There is something so satisfying of seeing a room go from messy to neat in 2 shakes of a lamb's tail (when the lamb is shaking her tail very slowly). B and L have a bunch of stuff too, but most of their things are items that they actually play with and use, so I end up moving a lot of stuff around until I'm happy with how it looks.
When we go out for Teppanyaki, the girls "ooh" and "aah" at the onion volcano and the beating heart rice and I do so at the end when the chef pours the seltzer water on to the hot griddle and makes it all sparkly clean again. What has happened to me??? Every time, I say how much I love it (which is every time we go), The Doctor just sighs, rolls his eyes and tucks back into his meal.
I held a party this morning at my house for my friends and their kids. While the kids were having a movie party, my friends and I were buying jewelry. I broke a cardinal rule and allowed the kids to eat their pizza, candy, popcorn and juice boxes in the family room, in front of the TV. B and one of her besties took their food into her room (another typical no-no, but I know they were trying to get away from M and L and their friends). Towards the end of the party, I walked into the kitchen and saw dirt all over the floor and this is where I surprised myself. I didn't freak out and I didn't stress. Instead, my first thought was, "Oh, I can't wait to mop that up and see how clean the floor is again!" Really? When did I turn into someone who looks forward to mopping and vacuuming? Does this mean B will turn into someone who actually likes to put away her clothes, as opposed to leaving them in a pile on her closet floor? Will M turn into someone who will actually be able to tell trash apart from treasure? Will L stop crying that she can't clean up the mess she made? Cliffhanger. . . To be continued in 30 years.
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