Rewards

Even though all of our stuff is moved into the new house, there is still SO much to do.  The old house needs to be completely cleaned.  (It's amazing how many dust bunnies you can accumulate in just a year!)  TCD suggested that instead of cleaning it ourselves, we just hire a maid.  UGH!  I have issues with paying people to clean up messes that I've made, so hiring someone is completely out of the question.  What exactly does that teach my kids if they never have to clean a microwave or mop a floor?  (It is a well known fact that I, personally, have never cleaned a toilet, but my kids don't know that.  And the way I've set things up here, it's possible that I may never have to do that job.  I have no guilt about that because I do plenty of others!)

So, this morning, as I walked out the door to go Visiting Teaching and run a few errands, I left them each a list of things they needed to do at the old house before they started any other activities.   It was NOT a short list!

• Windex mirrors 
• Clean bathtubs
• Wipe down counters
• Mop bathroom floor
• Clean Toilets
• Scrub baseboards
• Wipe out drawers, cabinets and shelves
• Vacuum bedrooms
• Take down shower curtains
• Vacuum downstairs closet

They each were responsible for their own rooms and both the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms.   It's always better when I'm not here because I tend to hover.  And then I make suggestions.  And then the "workers" get frustrated.  And then nothing gets done.  So, I left the list on the counter, walked out the door and hoped for the best.


Two hours later I pulled into the garage at the old house and noticed that there were no "workers" there anymore.  That could mean one of two things...either they were already finished OR they hadn't even started their jobs!  

Guess which one it was...
HINT:  If they hadn't done a great job, there would have been yelling and crying and groundation and there would be a blog post about something entirely different...

Not only did the "workers" finish the jobs on the list, they cleaned the ENTIRE downstairs!  

And guess what they wanted as a reward...to go to the POOL.  Um, I was planning on paying them what I would have paid a cleaning person, but the POOL and ice cream afterward were great rewards, too.  (I'm still going to pay them, but there's another floor to finish, so I'll surprise them with the bigger reward when the entire job is done.)  Besides, it was a great excuse to practice using my NEW CAMERA!

I was standing at the front door when I took this and June was in the car which was parked on the curb!  So glad I got that extra lens!

TCD talked Spell Girl into standing on her hands and doing a backflip into the water.

 

Cool, huh?  They only had to do this about 65 times before I got the shot.  

(Hopefully, I'll get faster and more accurate.)

 

   Oh, how I wish I had zoomed in on this one...it's SO cute!

 

Probably when they start to hide from the photographer, it's a good time to put the camera away and go get ice cream.  

It's been a great day!  Visiting teaching is done.  50% of the old house is clean.  There were rewards.  No one was grounded.  My camera is AMAZING!  And tomorrow the cable guy is coming to connect our internet and TV in the new house so I don't have to keep sneaking over to the old house to post stuff.  

Hooray!