Surprise from the Packrats!

To be honest I didn't expect to do any housework today. I had to head out shopping this afternoon and now that I'm entering the 3rd trimester of this pregnancy I'm finding that I really have much less stamina for lots of walking and shopping. Or anything afterwards.

Since I didn't want to clean, I figured I'd have the kids do a little work. (What else do I have little minions for, right?) Thinking I'd get about 15 minutes of productvitiy out of them, I asked all four to head upstairs and begin cleaning their rooms.

Meanwhile, I headed to my own room to fold laundry.

But as I did, I overheard my oldest and youngest working together. The oldest would ask, "Is this to keep or throw away?" And the youngest answered time and again, "I don't want that. Let's throw it away."

Shocking!! My kids are packrats and NEVER. THROW. ANYTHING. AWAY. Never.

I stood in stunned silence listening to the rustle of papers and the sound of said papers hitting the inside of the trashcan. Oh, what bliss!

Now although I had no intention of doing any major cleaning, I couldn't let this moment pass. This sweet and unexpected moment of time when my children were working together to actually declutter our home. Maybe all my work really is rubbing off on them in some way!

So, I did what any sane mother would do. I walked into their room, asked if I could help and began the arduous task of COMPLETELY decluttering their room.

We checked behind and under dressers, we went through bins, we pulled everything out from under the beds, we filled an entire garbage bag with trash - mostly papers and McDonalds type toys - and we sorted, sorted, sorted.

And right now, their room looks awesome. So awesome that I really would like to say they can't play there anymore. But that would be mean.

And what of my sweet daughter? As I worked with the boys for two hours, she worked on her own room. I haven't yet gotten in there with the vacuum, but I know she did her best. I'm guessing we'll work a bit more on it tomorrow, but I'm so proud of her for trying to tackle it on her own. Thankfully, her room isn't nearly as bad as the room where three boys collect everything from buttons and corks to rocks and every card ever given to them.

So although unplanned, it was a hugely productive day. And just in time too. Grandma's coming on Sunday!