Problem solving

Parenting is like... wrestling a grizzly on the Fourth of July. *

Basically, you're always trying to solve all these problems. And as soon as something works, something else crops up. And maybe the new problem is one you've solved before. But the solution that you had before isn't working this time for some strange reason. So you have to think of a new one.

I sent the girls to go clean their rooms. They wined, they moaned, they complained. I suggested that I could clean the rooms myself. They begged me not to (bad things happen when I do their chores for them). They went to their rooms and proceeded to not clean their rooms. They ended up back in the kitchen telling me various stories.

I'm the type of parent who teases my children and often says things that I don't mean. One child will ask for something (say, a piece of candy) and I say yes. The next one asks and I say no, just to get a reaction. Obviously, I give them both the candy in the end.

So as my non cleaning children are hanging out in the kitchen not cleaning I randomly said "Imogen, go clean Genevieve's room." I expected outrage, arguing, protest. She laughed. I said "Genevieve, go clean Imogen's room." They looked at each other. Then ran to the bedrooms and proceeded to happily clean each other's rooms.

I was baffled. Confused. Bewildered. Jeremy arrived home. They told him that I had told them to clean each other's rooms. He looked at me, confused. "Why?" he asked. "I was joking," I whispered.

Both rooms were cleaned in record time. I'm not sure why, or how. I doubt this will work again. But it worked this time.

*I couldn't think of an appropriate metaphor so I made one up.