Tsumommy Averted

This weekend there was a major Tsumommy warning. I was this close to completely losing it and unleashing Tsumommy.

It came to a head when I asked two children to pick a chore to help clean the downstairs of the house and both responded with basically "Um, no, thanks."

Yeah, that did not go over well, at all. Luckily I refrained from unleashing Tsumommy and over the course of the next hour or so got the kids to see that it was in their best interest to help out.

It shocking how well my son can vacuum when properly motivated. I told him his vacuuming job would determine how well I drove him to his evening plans. He looked at me dumbfounded and uttered, "What do you mean?" I explained that if he did a mediocre job, I would, too. Meaning, I would not take him the whole way if the floors weren't completely clean. If they were half clean, he'd get half a ride. The look on his face when that sunk in was priceless.

I was thrilled that I refrained from yelling and blaming to get things done. After stewing on the situation a bit I realized that the kids weren't the only ones to blame for their current slobbish habits.

I was also to blame. I had not been holding them accountable for their part. I had made it too easy for them to not clean up after themselves or help out because I had stopped expecting it.

Well, my friends, that has changed. Tonight, I asked Rehm twice to take the garbage cans to the curb. I realized at 10:00 that I had not heard him complete the chore. I texted him and this is what happened.



Yep, I insisted he get up and do it. Forgetting was not an excuse. I didn't care that it was inconvenient, he would come up with another way to make it inconvenient in the morning.

I've also revived the uh oh box, which really isn't a box, it's the top of the refrigerator. It currently contains three backpacks, two pairs of shoes, at least one lunch box, and a couple of other things. Yes, there will be drama in the morning when they realize they have extra chores to do before they can go to school, but I bet tomorrow they put these things away.



I'm glad I took a bit of time to quit bemoaning their poor habits and look at how my expectations were causing the problem. Now to get things back on track around here.

Jenn