It has been a while since I have written about the messiness…the ongoing, literal, mess of living space that comes with family life. But, I wanted to give you a bit of an update, we seem to have crossed some imaginary line on the time continuum of development and my older teens are starting to care what their bedrooms look and feel like. They haven’t reached a Zen state of perfection, but they ARE starting to clean up more often!
The mess has a tendency to make me crabby and my kids know it. This has never been a deterrent, however, to them having piles of clothes, papers, and who-knows-what-else scattered hither and yon about their rooms. They have gradually gotten better about the rests of the house, however, and have a tendency to pick up after themselves throughout the living room, kitchen, etc. I swear to you that last night after supper, my youngest son (without being prompted, asked or threatened) came in and started rinsing dishes and putting them in the dishwasher. I thought I was going to have to be air lifted to the emergency room after I hit my head on the stove when I fainted!
This past weekend also found me preparing to give the shoulder shove to the door of my eldest daughter’s bedroom in order to push the clothes piles aside so I could go in to deliver supplies—when the door swung open with ease—it was a tidy little haven in there. She’d even organized the closet and, other than the homework spread over the big bed, it was amazingly clean. I was starting to think that I’d only see the sea green carpet if I were to clean it up myself.
I guess it happens, things gradually change and they gradually take responsibility for their environments. I guess I’m going to have to find something new to complain about now!