Cleaning Day Again

Okay, I really shouldn't be on the computer right now. I just need a little distance from the kids rooms for a minute.

It is our third "cleaning day." The first week went great, the second week was okay. This week . . . lets just say the novelty has worn off, reality has set in, and I'm a little short on patience. I know I shouldn't be, it takes a lot of time and effort to train kids how to do their jobs and how to STAY FOCUSED so it doesn't take all day. If only I could show them once and then let them go at it! Then I could focus on th things I have to do instead of monitoring, urging, and training. Ugh!!!

I really think one of the problems we have is just too much stuff! I'm not sure that my kids are any more spoiled than the average American kid, but seriously - they have so many toys. No wonder they are frustrated when they have to clean it all up. It's just overwhelming. I wonder if we give our kids nice things in the name of love faster than we train and teach them to care for and appreciate the things they have. Hmmm - lots of stuff + not enough training to be responsible= spoiled? Are my kids spoiled? I'd like to blame it all on the grandparents, but I'm afraid I'm guilty as well. I keep thinking about the time my friend from Taiwan told me how incredible it was that American kids have so much stuff.

--Okay, just got interrupted by a salesman. I've got to get that no soliciting sign (if I can find a cute one). So back to my train of thought --

Oh, I've been rereading one of my favorite books, Positive Discipline by Jane Nelson, and love the idea that we don't necessarily have to make our kids feel worse to do better. I don't want to be a better person when people are yelling at me, I'd rather (but I wouldn't) kick them in the shins. So I am racking my brains on how to make my kids rooms more manageable for them, help them learn responsibility for their things, and help them feel like the capable kids that they are. Perhaps the most important thing I can do is stay positive and keep at it.

Now it is time for me to take a deep breath, remember they are just kids and are still learning. Patience, patience, patience . . . Oh, and forgetting about perfection ought to help too.