Cleaning House

It was really important to me to have my home in order for the beginning of our homeschool year. I have worked to whittle away at it whenever I could over the last several weeks, so as to avoid a huge, all-day cleaning war, yet still be on the ball and ready to go for a great start to our School Year.

The School/Children's Table, post-whittling

In theory, it was a great idea. In practice, it was a miserable failure. I forget that there are eight people in this home, two of which actually care [Mark and I], one of which [me] is in a legitimate position to do anything about it. And, I am reminded - once again! - that children are drawn to order and cleanliness. It attracts them like wasps to watermelon. And then they do what it is that children do best. *sigh* It's why I still have such great job security.

Mark - God bless him! - swooped in to my rescue and cleaned the bathrooms and vacuumed the entire downstairs over the weekend. With his efforts, the kitchen, the dining room, and the living room were blissfully clean. It was wonderful. It lasted a day and a half.

And I'm pretty much on my own for the playroom and the bedrooms upstairs, besides forcefully conscripting my children into an unwilling army of cleanliness.

The Playroom

Where we started:

How it looked when it was done:

Shelf life: approximately 6 hours.

OK, that's an exaggeration. Sometimes it's less. And sometimes we can maintain if for a few days.

Next up? The hurricane that is

The Girls' Room

I swear to you that it was immaculate five days ago. This four-against-one thing is NOT fair.

And then

Hyrum's room

Yeah. Job security.