Cam and I tackled the basement today while Meg cleaned out her room. The basement was a big commitment, but not as big as in the past. We definitely got rid of a lot of toys last summer so there just wasn't as much to pick up. The incentive for Cam to help today was getting paid and having a slumber party on Friday night. Meg's incentive was to go to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner tonight if she got her portion done. Everything looked so much more organized by the end of the day. Some dusting tomorrow and we should be complete.
Cal did not join in on the cleaning of the day. He had a golf tournament and was gone until close to 3 with Dad. Cal didn't qualify for the one spot to Florida that was open, but he and Dad had a lot of fun. In all honesty I don't ask Cal to help much on the cleaning. Right now he is working five days a week, taking two classes at summer school and playing tennis two days a week. I would rather have him keep up on that then argue with him about cleaning or picking up.
I remember when I first went back to work. After being home for sixteen years we realized that we would have to change some of the cleaning duties. Doug offered to take over the bathrooms and I asked the Heinisch children to help pick up and put away their own laundry. It was an adjustment for all of them because I was always home or my Mom was around to help. I knew this would good for them and I should have asked more of them before I even started back to work. Meg, Cam and Brett transitioned pretty well from having me home all of the time to working part time. There were a lot of reminders at first, but those have lessened over the years.
Cal, however, has never really changed his thought process on cleaning and/or organizing. It never has been a priority to him. This was never more apparent than this morning when he got out of the shower, wrapped himself in a towel, ran downstairs and grabbed some clothes out of the laundry basket and headed up without taking the entire basket up. I could have jumped him or reminded him or nagged him, but I didn't. In fact I really haven't said much to him about his room or laundry or cleaning since I went back to teaching. The one time I asked him to take his clothes up and put them away he said, "Why don't you quit your job and do it yourself?" The part of Cal's personality that made him feel compelled to say that he got from me. I realized at that moment I could tear into him and fight a good fight about it or I could back off, appreciate the fact that it was an adjustment to everyone that I was working, and keep on him about more important items such as academics. Thus, I still put his laundry away today, pick up his bathroom and bring down his water bottles several times a week.
Meg asked me last week why I clean Cal's room and not hers and Cameron's. I promised her that when Cal goes to college I will help keep her room picked up and organized if she wants and then when she leaves I will help Cameron. It seems like a fair trade for now. They are not as busy as they will be in their later years of high school and I can keep up with cleaning one of the Heinisch children's room, the household chores and work. Soon enough Cal will have moved on just like Brett. For now I will just appreciate having him here even if it means that I have to pick up a little bit more.
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