Before I proceed, I must issue a heartfelt thanks to a couple of ladies who gave me the courage to face the beastly task. Amy, Tessa, bless you both. Your words of understanding, wisdom, and encouragement made all the difference. I couldn't have done it without you.
To prove I accomplished the task, I'll share a couple pictures of the room. They aren't like some other pictures I've seen online of cute kid rooms with a mere sprinkling of clutter, little more than pleasant reminders that precious children dwell here. This is my kids' room on a good day, the morning after I made it my sole mission of the day to eradicate trash and neglected articles of goodness knows what from the room. So it's neat and clean and all, but it certainly won't make you feel like the ugly girl.
Honestly, though, I'm not posting these pictures for you. Nope. It might sound all nice and peachy-sweet for me to say I want to let you, my fellow mother or father, know that you aren't alone, that I don't have it all together, that if I can conquer my boys' room, so can you... Blah, blah, blah.
The bottom line is: I want proof. I'm not stupid. I know that despite my best efforts and most ardent reminders to keep the room clean, I will sooner or later be asking Amy and Tessa and anyone else who will listen to my cry for help (Please... anyone?), to offer me moral support as I struggle to find the courage to face the monstrous mess. So I want proof. Proof that the room was clean. Proof that clean is indeed possible.
So without further delay, here it is - the clean, though haphazardly decorated room of two young boys...
It does look nice, if I may say so. It feels nice, too, and I think John especially has enjoyed the peacefulness of playing Legos in an clean, uncluttered environment. He even picked everything up when he was done. Sweet. I could totally get used to that...
Before you ask, yes, I am aware of the glaring gaps in decor, starting with the lack of bed frames. There is some logic here, somewhere. It has something to do with one of our children breaking a collar bone falling out of bed at an early age, something to do with holding out for awesome bunk beds... At any rate, we are aware of that little interior design omission. Also, Luke's comforter is in the wash. This is probably just as well, since it doesn't match John's quilt.
I won't mention any of the other issues. Maybe if I keep quiet, you won't notice them. Maybe if you do notice, we can pretend they don't exist. And maybe we can pretend that these two rather large containers are not filled with toys, papers, and other miscellaneous items I didn't have the time or energy to sort or discard of properly last night. In fact, let's just pretend they don't even exist.
EXCELLENT! You have curtains, a rug, a cozy place to sit, activity zones, and the boys are not clones so they shouldn't have matching bed clothes. I say that's a mighty fine room. If your box of unmentionables doesn't exist, then my basement full of said boxes doesn't exist either. I like this arrangement.
ReplyDeleteLovely rooms, great job....nice how having a clean room encourages them to keep it that way.
ReplyDeleteMaybe put the box of unmentionables in the attic or in the back of your van, labeled with a date. If you don't access it in 6 months, you have a beautiful, EMPTY bin to use the next time you clean their rooms (PS--No peeking when you toss the contents!)