This afternoon as I was busy writing emails and tidying the basement they ask if they can have an ice cream cone. "Sure". Isn't ice cream a part of the perfect summer scene?
Yeah, perfect summer scene until mom comes upstairs and discovers that they didn't just have an ice cream cone, they topped it with strawberries, chocolate, chopped nuts and pina colada syrup. (Let me clarify that "they" refers to my two youngest children, the oldest one was curled up on the couch reading Archie comics, totally oblivious to the world around her). So their ice cream was just a few steps more extravagant than I envisioned - and the floor, the table, the counter, the fridge handle and even the wall were covered in some sticky substance.
Family meeting called.
Little discussion on taking things a little too far and knowing limits.
The sink was filled with a little water and a little Pinesol.
Three rags.
Three kids.
Each with an area to clean.
I leave the room.
This is what I returned to:
A very clean. Very soapy. Very wet kitchen. With lots of wet rags.
They did the job.
They did it well.
But yes, they still took things one step too far.
I could have taken 5 minutes to clean up after them but I took a chance and I dared to discipline. It took more time. It took more intentionality. And now they'll have to help with laundering all those rags. But I hope a lesson was learned - I hope, because I also hope to have many more lazy days of summer ahead of us, and sticky floors and big messes just get in the way of relaxing.
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