Kids Rules Of The House

I had one of those bad mommy days on January 29 (which also happens to be Kenny's birthday, I know bad day for a mommy blowup.) I was stressed and the kids weren't doing ANYTHING they were told to do and they were whining and complaining like crazy. You know, just one of those mornings. I wanted the morning to be perfectly wonderful for Kenny so he didn't have any added stress on this one day. Totally not what happened. Around 11:30 I completely lost it and completely yelled at the kids. Then I cried to Kenny about how sorry I was for ruining his birthday. Kenny, being the awesome guy he is, told me I hadn't ruined his birthday (I really had, but it was nice of him to say anyway) and that the kids have been getting worse and worse and this day was coming anyway (true, but why on his birthday.) Long story short, they all got in big trouble. They then, got a big lecture about how they need to take care of things and why. Sarah Kate got in the most trouble and had to sit by herself for a long, long time. While she was sitting alone Ben, Hannah, and Gracie were told to make a list of things they could do to help take care of the house and help Mommy out. I thought it was great so I thought I'd share. Here it is written in Ben's handwriting and his spelling too.

Translation and explanation:

No spinning fast on the chairs (very smart considering how that chair downstairs looks)

No poking holes in the wall (this would be directed to Sarah, the little stink)

No going under the car (this was my favorite, you know, because we have such a problem with it. When Ben brought it to us he said, "so we don't get oil and dirt all over our clothes and bring it in the house." It was real hard to keep a straight face on that one.)

Do what you are told when you are told to do it (my dream rule that will probably never come true to it's full potential.)

Clean up your messes (I assume this means without mommy having to yell at you over and over to do it.)

Only color on paper (another great rule; our poor art table downstairs looks very used.)

No food or drinks on the carpet (this has always been a rule, but for some reason I always find wrappers, crumbs and spilled drinks on the carpet downstairs. I wonder how that happens.)

So that's their list of things they should do to help take better care of the house. Pretty good for a 6, 4, and 3 year old. We hung it on the fridge for everyone to look at often. They've done a fairly good job so far, especially on the not going under the car rule. Hopefully it'll continue to improve.