Company's Coming! (Also known as free labor)

Studmuffin's brother is coming to help us paint our house this weekend....

I should be cleaning instead of blogging.

While I went to the store for the first time in 16 days without a list and apparently bought all of the staples I already have and none of the stuff I needed, and then went on a walk with my neighbor, my family cleaned...

Everything but the bathroom.

I had told the girls to clean their rooms while I was at work yesterday. However, Popcorn had a party at JumpZone to go to, and the nanny took Bookworm shopping where she let her try on makeup, and they didn't get home until I almost did, so they had to clean rooms yesterday evening.

At dinner Popcorn said, "Mom, will you PLEASE help me clean my room?"

"Honey, I have GOT to go to the store if I'm going to have food for your uncle and cousins."

"PLEASE, Mommy! I need you to help me!"

"You know what happens when I 'help' you clean your room. I see all of the junk you have shoved everywhere, and the piles under chairs and in your closet. Then, I get mad and throw it all in the middle of the floor, and throw away the ten zillion pieces of paper and other treasures, and start yelling at you to put it all away properly. Is that what you want to happen?"

"Yes!"

I laughed.

And, then I drug all of the piles of JUNK off of her closet floor. And behind her bed. And under her chair. And on her night stand, and book shelves and chest of drawers.

I really tried not to lose my temper, and I only did one time. Briefly.

Then, after I left her with a waist deep pile in the middle of her floor, I said, "Okay. Now I'm going to the store. Do you have it from here?"

"Yep! Thanks mommy! See you later!"

And I returned from all my running around at about 9pm to find the floors swept and mopped, Studmuffin running the vacuum, and Bookworm had dusted. I presented the girls with the itty bitty frog I had caught for them to torture for a few minutes, started some laundry, took a quick shower and went to bed.

So, today I still need to clean bathrooms and actually put away the piles that my family had no idea what to do with because I failed to put the stuff away all week...

I really should get going on this, because there is one thing I'm pretty sure of about my sister-in-law in Kansas. She is a worrier about appearances, so therefore her house is probably spotless...

So, in self defense, I will pretend my house looks like this all of the time, instead of the reality that is my cluttered life!

Oh, and after realizing all the work my family did while I was out running around, I came to the conclusion that perhaps they do see me as a trophy wife!

And that, Gentle Reader, is something I simply HAD to share with you before facing cleaning bathrooms, and sorting junk mail...