Getting Ready for Company

When there is company rolling in to town we do the proper thing here at the Baughman household and clean house. The toys are just over abundant and find themselves strewn all over the entire house despite having a designated toy area/room/wing. And while you want to teach your children to clean up after themselves and the rewards of keeping things such as toys neat and tidy sometimes (almost every time) it's so much easier and quicker to just go ahead and do it yourself. There is something about finding an old toy or book or box of baseball cards that inspires a child to play with it then and there despite the fact that it's been collecting dust or napping with the dead bugs untouched in the corner for days or weeks on end. Today Nate didn't go against the grain as much as usual. He loves to organize! I even got him to vacuum and he didn't ram his sister's feet with it as if he were going to suck her up into the Bissell. On the other hand, Tessa, posing as strange-80's-Jane-Fonda-look-alike, was killing her momma. As toys hit the shelves and boxes and bins, Tessa's eyes would pop out of her head as if it were Christmas morning and this were her first encounter with each and every toy, book, marker, puzzle, doll, etc. And, every discovery led to yet another mess. Needless to say, it took all day to accomplish neatness in the toy room and sadly, we all know this will not last.