When Good Punishments Go Bad....

I love my kids, I really do. But sometimes they drive me crazy. Take my youngest daughter for example...

Diva is a Packrat Extraordinaire! She loves to save every piece of paper she has scribbled on. Every cheap toy from mickey d's. Pens. Crayons. Books. Barbie dolls. The clean laundry she doesn't want to put away... You name it, she keeps it and hides it. Her favorite place to keep everything is shoved under her bed. She has a daybed that has about 18 inches of clearance underneath; enough space to hide lots of things.


And even though I tell her on a regular basis that there shouldn't be anything under there except in the few boxes we've designated for storage, faster than you can say "dust bunny" the bed is packed again!


So today I had a brilliant idea. While she was gone, I cleared EVERYTHING out from under the bed. And then, giggling in a mad genius sort of way, I took the bed apart and put the mattress on the floor.' A ha! I thought. That will show her! No room under there to put anything, so nothing more for me to clean out.' (Ok, so I'm not really a genius...I just had a serious case of exhaustion, mixed with a touch of wishful thinking...)








I was so proud of myself. I couldn't wait for her to come home so I could gloat! I expected tears. I expected pleading for me to put the bed back together. I expected her to bargain and promise me that she would from this day forward keep her room as neat as a pin.


I should have known better. This is MY daughter we are talking about.


She's thrilled to have the mattress on the floor. She thinks it's the coolest thing ever. She told me now she doesn't have to worry about falling out of bed. She told me she'll keep her papers down stairs in the kitchen...


Sigh...