Fly Lady and the Monster Box

Here is a device we've had to use in years past... THE MONSTER BOX. He came out yesterday when I heard Sassy tell Roonsie Boy in a rushed, whispered tone as I was walking down the hall to their room, "Hurry, Roonsie Boy! Pretend you're cleaning!!" I then gave them 15 minutes to clean before the Monster Box came to eat up their toys. He keeps them for a week. They can pay me for items inside if they want them back (a quarter per toy) before the week is up. Tears were flowing when he reared his ugly head! Even Baby J was crying when the Monster Box came out! I guess the growl was a little too scary.

I read the book The Side Tracked Home Executives, by Pam Young and Peggy Jones, where they would be "house fairies" for each other's children. Since, I didnt' have any funny friends to come dressed up as house fairies, I was glad the FLY Lady could help us out.

Baby J, helping me with the laundry.

We started with chore lists decorated with High School Musical for Sassy and Star Wars the Clone Wars for Roonsie Boy. We got moving a little bit with these, but were still struggling to finish our chores. So, a couple days ago, we had a visit from "The Fly Lady" or Cleaning Fairy" as we call her. Many of you may be familiar with her website. She decided to visit us in the night and left the kids a list of jobs. She came back last night and left a treat for the kids who finished their chores. I think she was a little over ambitious with her list- they did a great job with over half the jobs, but still have some left for today. She said she'd come back one more time tonight to check and see if they get any additional treats.