When Did I Become Mary Friggin' Poppins???

Oh right, four kids.  I saw a post on Facebook yesterday (thanks, Rick H.) entitled "Age Appropriate Chores" beginning at age 2.  At first I giggled.  Then I remembered that I was so on top of that with Ocean and Ethan.  "Help, help, help. You help Mommy and Mommy helps you." Seriously, I used to say that stuff.

Then we graduated to Barney's "Clean Up" song.  Hunter moves his little butt when we sing that (thanks, Kerri).    But wait.. someone's missing... oh, no, Aaron helps too but mostly with a promise of reward (thanks, Dad).  I wanted some help today, so I had to get creative.

 Someone keeps peeing on the seat of the main bathroom.  I told the boys they would be cleaning the bathroom today because of it and an argument ensued. 

Aaron: "It's Ethan!"
Ethan: "It's you Aaron! I sit down when I pee!" (score!)  
A: "How come when I went in there once you were standing?"
E "Mom, did you hear what Aaron said?" (couldn't miss it)
E: "That's not fair that I have to clean up Aaron's pee!" (Aaron starts to laugh)
E: " See Mom!? Aaron's laughing, he knows it's his pee!" (Aaron laughs harder)
Me: "Okay, so Aaron cleans up the bathroom; Ethan you take the dishwasher and if that's all done, you can maybe stay home while I run get milk." (no argument and everything was done without complaint)

According to the chore list, Aaron is more than capable of cleaning a toilet. I've actually had both of them do it on more than one occasion in the past.  My ultimate plan with making the boys clean it is to get them to stop peeing on the seat.  Not that I think Ethan is completely innocent, but he also hasn't been here for a week so it's really not fair that he would be saddled with the job anyway and since it was last cleaned on the weekend when Ethan was already gone... well, I'm also part Sherlock Holmes.

Hunter was being difficult.  I asked him to put away one box of cereal.  He can get it himself, he knows perfectly well where it is kept. 

"Um," he begins "where does it go?"
 I humour him. "Over here in the cupboard."
He goes to the pantry. "In here?"
"No, in the cupboard over here."
"I don't know where."
"Hunter, you know where it goes, here in the cupboard."
He stops at the fridge. "In here?"
"Hunter! The cupboard where the cereal goes!"
 He stops in front of the stove. "Here?" OMG!!!
I open the cupboard. "Here, it goes in here!"
"Oh!" He says as if it's the first he's heard.

Ethan's room is a disaster.  He has bins for his lego, shelves for his books, a dresser, closet and hamper for his clothes; not that you can tell by looking around the place.  The problem is that the big jobs are overwhelming.  I get this.  I was cleaning out my closet because all my winter stuff is still easiest to reach and I had to destroy it to find golf clothes. 

So I asked him, "Do you think you could clean for two straight minutes? Not ten, not five, but only two?"
He looks at me like I'm mental. "Uh, yeah."
I take this look in stride, I did sound mental.  "What if we have a race?  You clean your room and I'll clean mine, but only for two minutes at a time. We'll see who can do it faster." 
"Yeah, okay!" He says with relative excitement.
And there you have it.  From cajoling to humouring to "spoonful of sugar": Ms. Poppins, at your service.