Live and Learn

As you could guess, having a nice big room comes with some harsh realities! You have to clean it. YOU, being EVAN of course. Not me, it's not mine. I'm not going there. So when he had Pierce over, then Aliyah and Luke, and then Maddie, and Jessica and Samantha stopped by, and Cory...the room became a little, messy. And as quickly as they are in there playing, they are out the door playing in the Cul de Sac.

It usually goes a little like this. Evan and friends are playing nicely in his room. Evan hears a voice outside and looks out the window. The announcement is simple..."Kids! Kids are out!" And then the room is evacuated. The toys remain.

Repeat this a few time, bringing out new toys each time, and of course, there's no time to clean up, there are KIDS outside.

Last night Evan faced the harsh reality. It's his room, it's his mess. He can also ask kids to help clean up before they go out to play and that way he'd have help. But he didn't ask, and as you know, if you don't ask, you don't get help. At least when it comes to toys and 5 year olds. So, the mess is yours Evan. I sat on the floor and helped him think. What to start with? Pick up all the Matchbox cars. Stick to one thing at a time. Ok, now Legos. Get all of those. Okay, big trucks...and so I 'talked' the way through cleaning his room. It wasn't pretty and wasn't without whining, but I do think he understands that if he doesn't ask his friends for help, it will be just him in the end. It got done. He didn't like me much. That's okay. It got done.

Tonight I said, "You know where everything goes. Get it done in 15 minutes and you can have 15 minutes of Clickstart (game) before your bath. Don't get it done. No extra time." I told him I would be laying on his bed reading while he did his job. Well what to you know? He did it. No fussing. With time to spare. He played his game. Life is good.

He's also been repeating the phrase "live and learn," from time to time. He doesn't really get what this means, but he got it from Pierce and I think he likes the way it sounds. So today, he whined, whined, whined when asking me to bring home a donut from the grocery store. No way. Whining doesn't work with me. So imagine his shock when I came home without. He feel to pieces. After he put himself back together I explained what 'live and learn' really means. I think we're defiantly at the age where I need to stand my ground, keep my word, and things will fall into place. Bit by bit, it's happening.

And no matter how much he doesn't like me sometimes, he still tells me, with a hug around my neck, "I love you more than anyone in the world."