Calling Their Bluff

The room that Tertius and Quarta share is a mess. As in the "if I have to impale myself ONE more time on your Lego, I'm going to go stark raving mad" kind of messy. It is a daily struggle for me to just keep them from dragging their toys out into the living room - my space! - and to get them to pick up enough that I'm not taking my life into my hands when I go in there. Today is no exception to the rule. When they get dressed, they pull out clothes, decide what to wear, and leave the rejected items all wherever they threw them. When they are finished playing with a toy, they move on to the next one, leaving the abandoned toy where it lay. I think I've painted a pretty accurate picture, but I think I may need to give you some photographic evidence.

Not too pretty. Even the path I had carved out for my safety last night is strewn with caltrops Lego for my "enjoyment".

So, when he and his sister dragged his Thomas toys out into the living room, I decided it was room-cleaning time. I told them that if their room was too messy to play in, it was time to clean it up, marched them into their room, and gave them each a task. I returned to the kitchen table to resume my "to do" list. Not two minutes later, Secunda comes up to me and says that Tertius claims that he's too tired to clean.

So I called his bluff.

I went into the room and asked him if he was too tired to clean. He said he was, so I told him to climb up into his bunk and have a nap. I'd set the alarm for an hour, at which point I'd wake him to clean. He grudgingly went up, complaining with each step on the ladder, but he knew I'd caught him. Thrice they tried to sneak out of their room, and thrice they were sent back into it and offered the option to clean or sleep. 20 minutes in, Tertius finally succumbed to his pillow and blanket, but Quarta is proving more resistant, but at least she is quietly laying on her tummy in her bunk.

I will win this battle.