As I mentioned in a previous post, Bella and her friend from out of town (yes, Dawkins) got in a lot of trouble for sneaking out (to go swimming) at 2 am last Wednesday. Well, I had a dilemma because Dawkins had just arrived for her summer visit and it didn’t seem fair to completely ground them during her visit – so I sentenced them to no TV/computer and no cell/house phone for the duration of her visit, and several hours of hard labor everyday, after which they could go to the beach, the mall, the pool, etc. (Then Bella acted so blase about being grounded that I took away her book, the third in the Stephanie Meyers vampire love series and Bella cried!)
I know, I know, I’m a mean mom.
But YOU wake up at 2 am and find your daughter missing and then see what kind of consequences you devise when comes back at 3 am giggling.
Well, who’s giggling now? We are getting tons of cleaning done this week. It’s amazing how much work you can get out of two 14-girls who want to get to the pool before noon.
A sample chore list from earlier this week:
- Wash the blinds (every slat in the house was wiped down)
- Thoroughly scrub and clean Bella’s bathroom
- Laundry
- Pack for three weeks (so she has clothes during the moving transition)
- Empty and pack her dresser
- Wash and clean the stairway railing
Other notable cleaning accomplishments this week: all the windows got windexed, all the visible floorboards got washed, and the back half of the pantry is packed and clean!
The way things are going, I’m going to mind the next time she gets in trouble.
