Clean Discovery

Yesterday I spent 5 hours cleaning the girls' room.  Two of those hours were spent in almost glorious solitude until A3 woke up and decided to help me for an  hour by sitting in my lap and begging me to hold her.  Another hour was spent with the entire family helping.  It was great to have all the help but I swear the walls were closing in on us!

At about the 4 hour mark, I reached several conclusions:

1. My girls are gross. I mean really gross! I already knew this but this cleaning adventure confirmed any doubts. 

2. A2 is destined to be an artist.  I found an elaborate sticker display and drawings done in crayon, marker, pen, pencil, and miscellaneous. Miscellaneous, you ask?... see number 1.

3. The girls are hoarders.  The treasures they stash and store are mind boggling. Honestly, why would someone need to save tags off of new clothes? Not the paper part but the little plastic part that connects the paper tag to the clothes.

4. The girls are trying to keep Wally the mouse as a pet.  I found half eaten bread sticks, empty-ish containers of applesauce, cereal, and a banana. I was 99.9% sure we have a rule about only eating in the kitchen but I guess I was wrong...

5. The girls have a secret desire to be doomsday preppers.  I found 4 rolls of toilet paper hidden under their beds, in the closet, and in A2's dresser.  I am sure their could be a 5th roll if I put all the scraps and shredded pieces back together. 

6. Their dolls have better clothes than I do.  I never realized before just how many American Doll outfits they have collected over the years soon we will need to build an addition on to our house so the doll, her name changes weekly, can have her own closet space.

7. A1 is a frustratingly creative little girl.  Every night they get in trouble for not going to sleep because they are telling stories, making up jokes, and as I just discovered, writing daily new casts. I laughed when I read "Wednesday News." Apparently, Wednesday was a rough news day.  Fights with friends, sisters, and parents.  It is amazing that A1 is able to face the day with such a turbulent life.

8. I need to do a better job supervising their daily clean up so I don't have to spend an entire day re-cleaning their room.  This probably won't actually happen so I will continue to marathon clean on days off from school...

My girls are great, gross, but great.  I really enjoy all their quirks and oddities so it is worth all the hard work cleaning their room.  Honestly, I kind of enjoy discovering who they are by cleaning up their messes, but not enough to do it all the time!