Keepin' It Real

Back in January Matt and I purchased these really neat cubical storage units available at Lowes for the kids room (you can also get them at Target). We bought a 9 cube unit, a 6 cube unit, a book shelf , and these fabric drawers. It wasn't cheap and of course they were on sale the week before we bought them but boy has it been a great investment! I love them, the kids love them, and yes there is peace on earth! First of all the bright colored drawers go well with the room, there is plenty of space for everything, and the kids like to put their toys in the cubbies. You say yeah right, her kids pick up. Darn right I get the kids to pick up and they are great little helpers as well as mess makers.

Here is a before photo. *gasp* Hey I'm just keepin' it real...

About twice a week I let the kids do what I call "free play". Generally in the mornings when I am trying to get the toilets scrubbed or the floors done or eat bon-bons on the couch while watcing Days of Our Lives I let them run amuck and play with whatever their little hearts desire. They usually desire to simply make a mess. When I am done with my part of the chores then I go in and assess the damage. As you can see from the picture above the girls are usually pretty proud of their mess and the shocked look on mommy’s face that so much mess can be made in a matter of an hour.

Then mommy announce it's time to clean up. In order to make it fun we set the timer and challenge ourselves to tidy up as fast as we can. It’s great incentive for them. We also sing a song we learned from the kids show Little Bill. I won't bore you with the details. But ~ in a matter of 5 minutes or less (they are getting really good) the room looks like this again!

And everything is right with the world again.