Doing it the flylady way

There have been nights this past week that have been HORRIBLE.

M is waking up between two and four times a night. Robby is getting up once to pee. Alex is snoring away in my ear. We've had company like crazy and the house keeps turning into a disaster area. I refused to take pictures of M dancing to the wiggles ( actual butt shaking dancing ) because I couldn't get her in the picture without any of the toys or dirty laundry on the floor.

Robby had a friend over, and, I kid you not, they took out every single toy. Every one.

M has peed through her outfits twice now. I have baked a pie, and two sets of muffins, two full dinners for six to eight people, and three pans of cookies.

I am exhausted. I am up till 1 or later each night, plus the wakeups. I dread mornings where I trudge downstairs with M, tripping over toys, and attempting to load my coffee pot with a wiggly baby, over a sinkful of last nights dinner dishes. I do not have the wherewithall to attempt polite conversation, much less deal with a child who is absolutely sure that 7am is the new 10:00am.

But each morning ( well, most of them anyway ), I trudge downstairs and do not trip on anything. I hit the button on the loaded coffee pot, and drink from a cup from a clean dishwasher. Robby's juice is waiting in a cup in the fridge. M's diapers are set out. Everyone has clean clothes.

The mess in Robby's room? A lollipop bribe - and he's cleaned it himself in 15 minutes.

It is all because at night, I spend the last 15 minutes cleaning up. I hate it. I grumble and I grouch, but I do it because walking downstairs into a clean house is worth 15 minutes.

Alex has gotten on board with it, and so has Robby. Robby's clean room and his bed being made every morning is a source of pride for BOTH of us. Most of the time, Robby remembers to make his own bed. Occasionally, I yell downstairs to him to come and fix it for me. He puts his clothes in the " washer room " - not to be confused with WASH ROOM. The joy in my heart when Robby spends over an hour playing in his room, with toys he can both access and put back, is immeasurable.

Alex too! There have been nights where I have just NOT been up to loading the coffee pot - usually the nights when I fall asleep on the couch from utter exhaustion. We have a tiny pink and green sign that lets the morning shift know the coffee pot is loaded and ready. I love seeing it in the morning!!