You SEE what Happens....

When you have 2 children, a husband, a mother-in-law (w/ dementia) and you run a Yard Sale for 3 days!! You end up not having the time, energy or mental fortitude to write in a blog!! Whew, everything is done and we did well in the sale. The other people in my family are probably wondering what tree I fell out of. My children had to get their piggy banks and buy back any of their toys they wanted out of the yard sale. They were only allowed to buy 8 or less too. Let me tell you the back story.....

About 4 months ago, you know when the weather here in MI is really cold, my children had SCADS of toys, books etc. lying on their bedroom floor. Normal you say, but oh, let me finish. This is the bedroom that houses TWO children and their toys, books etc. This is also the room mommy has to walk into at night, without a light, without her glasses on to tuck her youngest into bed because she fell out, or lost her blanket, or just woke up and thought it was morning (hint Liyah, no sun/ no morning). Mommy (ie ME) got very tired of stepping on toys both soft and hard (you can turn an ankle on a stuffed animal wether you think you can or not). So I gave them a week to clean it all up. A WEEK!! I would remind them every morning that they were responsible to have toys cleaned up and put away before our weekly sleepover on Friday night, OR mommy (ie, ME) would do the cleaning with a large garbage bag and send them to the basement for the yardsale!!!! You know the end of the story, they blatantly looked me in the eye and said, "I don't care, I don't want them. You can clean them up." I kid you not!! They did pick out a few toys they deemed necessary to throw into the toy box and save.

I don't know how well Liyah has learned this lesson, but Lauryn is understanding more the concept of money and doesn't want any of her "new" toys to get taken away again (Goodwill this time) and "lose her money".

I guess some people find this a little hard to grasp, doing such things to your kids. Here's my theory.... my kids get things for birthdays, Christmas, Easter, any day G.P. gets to the store with money and when mom and dad can afford something. They aren't spoiled per say... but this throughout the year adds up to quite a few books, toys and games. If they aren't appreciative enough to take care of these wonderful things (and I mean there were some really nice things in that sale) then they don't really have to have them!! I'm a much saner mom when I don't have clutter from one end of my house to another!!!

A Saner mom is a Happier mom!!!!! Let's just leave it at that.