Unfortunate necessity or fate worse than death?

My girls feel the same way about cleaning up as I imagine most children their age do. They despise it. The rail against it, beg, plead, bargain and petition to avoid it. And I, in turn, rail, beg, plead, bargain and bribe to get them to do it.

This morning (after a week long war in which I have lost more than a few battles) I issued a new ultimatum: clean your toys or never play with them again. What's that? A little harsh? Ha! [bitter laughter] To you I say, better to destroy their toys than the children themselves.

Here's what Matilda would rather do for a full 78 minutes:



Only the knowledge that I could document the event and record it for posterity took the homicidal edge off the frustration. Kid's lucky I have a blog, that's all I have to say.