The Diary of a Mess-Maker

      There once was a little girl named Lily.  She liked likes to make messes.  She has a mom that does not like (at all) to pick them up.  Every day, Lily spends time in her room.  We call it "Nap Time," but it could also be referred to as "Lily's Comedy Hour."  She rarely naps.  Who wants to nap when you can play and talk to yourself and your lambie for two hours?  Not Lily.  This is the story of the messes that are made during that time, and the battle that is waged over the picking up of that mess.

Starring: Lily



Every day after the Comedy Hour, I go in to get my little friend and find something like this.  (Side note - why do we have two copies of The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, and why is he so creepy looking on the back cover?)



I would help her pick it up, with me really carrying the burden of that responsibility, until John helped me realize that I was not using my advantages.  Like the one where I get to tell her what to do, because she is my child.  So I decided this was a battle to pick.  I want her to learn to pick up and be responsible for what she gets out.  Someone once told me, "Never do for your child what they can do for themselves", and I knew she was fully capable of picking up her disaster.

Thus, our battle began, and it is one that we are still waging some days.  I started taking a picture of her "picking up" each day when I went in to get her.  This is what I got.






(Love the sticker hanging off her bum in this one.)

(I was sort of impressed with the creativity of the hangers in this one.)


(John coaching her through the post-nap pick up.)

So, each day, when I put her in her room, I say, "You know you will have to pick up anything you get out.  Do you understand?"  And she says, "Yes Ma'am."  (We live in the South.)  And some days she picks it all up so that she can come out and get her snacks and milk.  Other days she languishes in her room for an extra couple of hours not picking up - some times whining, some times just chilling, and some times, she screams until she falls asleep - like here.



But, I know she knows how, since I have seen it firsthand.  So, each day, this is what we do.  Routine is so comforting.