Cleaning

Since yesterday was rainy and cold, we spent most of the day inside. The kids spent most of the day in the basement playing with their toys. This morning I told them that they needed to clean the basement before they could watch any television shows. Gillian nodded and started to pick up some toys. John asked "How many?" I understand that, sometimes we tell them to only pick up a certain number of toys. But not today. Today they needed to clean up all the toys. John understood and started to clean up. Meanwhile, Gillian was playing. I called her over to me and told her that she needed to clean and not play. She said "I don't wanna!" I told her that I didn't make the mess and that she needed to clean it up. She said "no!" I told her that she had two options, clean the basement or go to timeout. She started to clean. But the second I turned away she would stop and play or sing a song or read a book. It took them about 45 minutes to clean the basement. It will probably be a mess again by tomorrow. 

No TV

On Sunday, Daddy and I looked around the basement and decided that the kids have created a ridiculous mess. Their toys are everywhere. The basement is such a mess that we cannot find the remote controller for the television. Daddy and I decided that the kids cannot watch any TV until the basement is cleaned. When I say no TV that means the TV in any room cannot be on while the kids are awake. So yes, we are all being punished a little bit, but considering the mess in the basement it is worth it.

It is now Wednesday and the basement isn't much cleaner and the kids have not watched any television. John did try to negotiate with me yesterday saying "It's going to take forever to clean up. Maybe you can help too." I told him I would help him but that Daddy and I would not clean the entire basement like we normally do. He sighed and said "we are never going to watch TV again!"

The kids are doing anything possible to not go into the basement and avoid cleaning. Last night they entertained themselves by John laying on the floor and Gillian sitting on his back. The basement needs to get cleaned before these kids hurt themselves.