Today's Parenting

I'm a bit proud of how today turned out. I knew we had a lot of cleaning and sorting that needed to be done, and I knew that Katie and Maggie were not going to be happy about doing them, especially with all the new toys and gadgets to play with. So, I decided to make it a game.

I made a list of easy chores, cut them out and put them in one bowl. Then I made a list of the hard chores (clean play-room, clean out Sadie's pen, sort socks, sort puzzles) and cut them out and put them in another bowl. Then I started a list of fun things to do.

Katie and Maggie had to draw one chore at a time from the easy chores and get them all done before moving onto the hard chores. If they got through both bowls without whining or screaming, then we would do the stuff on the fun list. And, while they were working on their lists, I had to do my own mega-list, try to keep Natalie safe*, and give Lainie manageable chores, too.

So what did they get done? Laundry washed, dried, and sorted; dishwasher unloaded three times today; books picked up from all bedrooms, living room, playroom, and foyer; all beds made; both K and M/L's bedrooms picked up; bathrooms cleaned; and trashed picked up. They also played with Sadie, cleaned the poo out of her pen, sorted a huge stack of puzzles, and helped sort socks. Lainie helped me clean up and organize the play room, and helped with the dishes. And I got all the laundry put away, the laundry room cleaned, the kitchen cleaned, Christmas decorations (except tree) put away, and playroom really cleaned. No screaming and no whining, too! So, we made a Sonic run during Happy Hour, two girls got rainbow baths, and I painted everyone's fingernails tonight. Tomorrow, we will make some shrinky-dinks and do a Wii tourney, maybe even paint a picture or two. Best of all, our house is all ready for a New Years shindig.

*but the failure of the day was keeping Natalie safe. She tried to stand on the footstool that goes with our glider rocker, and hit the floor face-first. By her scream, I knew something was wrong so I picked her up and took her to the kitchen for inspection. (This is the part that makes me laugh.) She was snuggled into my shoulder, so I turned backwards and asked Jay if there was any blood. He said, "No, not yet anyway." So I turned her around and pulled her off my shoulder, only to see my shirt, her shirt, and her face covered with blood. So much for asking for Daddy's input! (In his defense, she was snuggled into my shoulder and hiding her mouth.) Long story short, she bit through her tongue in four spots, all pretty deep, but all stopped bleeding after a couple minutes. She didn't want to eat supper, but loved that slushy from Sonic.

No permanent damage, thankfully, unlike Lainie's nose-slam on Sunday. Did I mention that it's possible she broke her nose on a Sunday morning fall? It's not crooked enough to worry about a doc visit and it's not affecting her breathing or anything, but it is a lovely shade of purple.

So, yes, we earned 1 Parenting Point for getting the girls to do chores without whining, but we lose 2 Parenting Points for battle scars from the week. Maybe tomorrow's goal should be to pad the living room for the week.