Come on now! Everybody sing to the tune of ‘I wish I was a punk rocker’ by Sandi Thom…
Oh I wish I was a funky fairy with powers in my glare
In 2017 revolution was in the air
You were born to me, but now I know my powers are not there!
Oh I give up!
It’s hard for me to say this, but I totally understand how my parents felt when I was a kid. If I was a fairy, my magical power would be to stare at my kids with a ‘glare’ so menacing they’d know instantly what it meant! Tidy up your toys!
Sadly I am not a fairy. I have no magical powers and as I said above I get it know. I know how my parents must have felt.
Exhausted, despondent and frustrated! Just a few of the many words I could use to describe the feeling of helplessness!
Getting children tidy up after themselves is hard work!
Friends tell me to make it fun!
“Why don’t you put on some music and encourage them to dance whilst they tidy up?” said one good meaning friend.
Another suggests, “We play a tidy up game. The first kid to tidy up their corner of the room the quickest gets a prize!”
**Sigh**
I know my kids. Music will not encourage them to tidy up. It’ll encourage them to dance and make more mess.
A tidy up game will end in tears because one will always lose!
Maybe I should work on some subtle subliminal messages. I could record my own voice in a gentle, kind, whispering voice and recite a few phrases over and over again and then play it to my children whilst they sleep….
I want to make mummy happy. I’ll tidy up my toys!
I want to be a good girl. I’ll tidy up my toys!
I don’t want to be a messy person. I won’t make any mess!
Hmmm, I’m not sure that’ll work either. My kids sleep so soundly I think not even a herd of elephants stomping through the house would wake them up. A tape of my hushed voice desperately trying to brainwash them probably won’t work either!
That’s it. I give in.
**Searches online for professional house cleaning service whilst drinking prosecco and thinking up all of the things I can do with the extra time I’ll have from not having to clean my own house myself!**
Well, one can dream! Actually, it’s not that much of a fantasy really. My friend does actually have a cleaner. Although she kind of defeats the logic of having a cleaner in the first place as she actually cleans for the cleaner! Crazy, I know, but I think it makes her feel a bit better about having someone else clean up, plus it gives her a break from having to do it. Heaven knows all parents need a break now and again! What do you think?
