June 9, 2015

I think kids are tired today.  I think I'm tired today.  I think I forgot to take my medication since last Saturday.  Wheeee.....

We have had a breakthrough in cleaning up here- a friend/student of mine/mom/former teacher/I used to teach her kids piano heard we were having trouble and dropped off a cool digital timer a little bit ago, just for the big girl to use.  We were super grateful, and E loved pushing the buttons...but it didn't really accomplish what we hoped it would.  Because...we wanted stuff to get clean.  And it still wasn't getting clean.

Last week a friend shared that she was teaching her crew (three kids 5 and under.  YASSSS.) to do 10 minute clean ups.  The kicker was...they worked hard for 10 minutes, and accomplished whatever they could.  See?  10 minutes is way less scary than "clean it ALL" or "You have 10 minutes and I throw away the rest."  (That last example is me.  It's all me.)  

This morning, in 10 minutes, we unloaded and loaded the dishwasher, tidied the music and living room, cleared and wiped the table and counters, and put away all the dried hand dishes.  NOT BAD.  We took another 10 minutes this afternoon and got the playroom clean enough that I could vacuum most of it.  Again, NOT BAD.  This is actually huge monumental progress, especially for E.

I tried it on myself- I gave myself 10 minutes to clean my room.  It becomes the landing place for papers, laundry, grocery receipts, kids art work, books, random toys Cocoa abandoned, and mis-matched socks.  I got it tidied up and vacuumed- sweet!  Of course, there is a huge pile of laundry that moved from the floor to the bed (which I am NOT GOING TO FOLD.  NO WAY.)  

This?  This is a picture of my lunch.  I actually sat down and ate lunch.  This doesn't happen during the school year, mostly because I am so DONE with children that as soon as the books close I go in my room and shut the door, then grab a granola bar in the afternoon when no one is looking.  Now, I eat lunch when I get hungry because the kids aren't there to see me, they're off playing littlest pet shop pirate princesses go to Hogwarts (and play chinese checkers).  They come up when they're hungry and make sandwiches.  

Isn't it pretty?  It's pretty.

I asked the kids to take a few minutes and clean the entry way.  I assumed they would put away the shoes and grocery sacks blocking the stairs, and maybe sweep.  Instead they trooped outside and raided the garden to create a fairy garden scene for visitors to enjoy.  (Notice the cracked bird has a feathered headdress thing going on.  Which...is kind of ironic.)  

My sister dropped her kids off this afternoon so she could grocery shop in peace.  This is a very valid concern!!  My niece, BuBu, was dropped off sound asleep.  I know she doesn't sleep at night if she naps, so after a while I tried to gently wake her up.  I spoke to her...tickled her feet....kissed her cheeks....propped her eyelids open...girlfriend was not going to wake up, and now she was asleep with her EYES OPEN AND TRACKING ME.  OK, that's creepy.  I knew she was awake when she smacked me across the face and burrowed in the couch.  She finally woke up enough to launch herself, wailing, into her big brother's lap.  The kids called him to play, and he smugly said "No, I can't: BuBu needs me!"  Awwww!  She took him by the hand upstairs and she found the guinea pig.  I gave them a big bowl of salad to feed her.

I taught a piano lesson this afternoon (the child didn't realize they had a lesson before a long summer break, so we worked on her song a bit and then I set her loose trying to write lyrics for the thing.  Hopefully it will help her get the tricky rhythms into her head!)  

We all changed into swimsuits and packed a picnic dinner, and met the dads at the beach for the evening.  The water felt FANTASTIC, it was another hot day.  85 is hot here (really hot.)