The Clean Team

This week the boys and I had some extra time before we had to be at playgroup, and I thought we should take the opportunity to clean our dirty house together. Now, Isaac, my darling freak-child, is the King of Clean. He loooooooves to help vacuum, and especially to wipe things down. Jacob has been more reluctant to board the clean train than Isaac. Last week during our vacuuming session I asked him repeatedly to pick his toys up. When he not so much refused as chose to play instead of doing his job, I told him that the vacuum cleaner was going to eat any the toys left on the floor. He didn't believe me until I shooed him out of his room, hid his toys, and vacuumed. Today when I got out the vacuum again, he practically pushed me down in his rush to clean up his room before I got there. Awesome.

Also awesome is an article I read in Family Fun magazine about green cleaning. I thought we'd put this in action this morning. Each boy got his own squirt bottle filled with 1 c water and 1 T baking soda.



They did a great job on the kitchen and bathroom. Then they continued to do a great job on all glass surfaces, with gross and streaky results. We might have to look for a better all-purpose green cleaner for next time. I think tomorrow we're due for a kitchen floor scrubbing party, an institution devised by Isaac. I give each boy a scrub brush and a shallow water source and let them go to town on the floor. They love it, so much so that when they're done they take their show to the bathroom.

And no, my kids are not for sale.