Last weekend, after a moment of pure, brain-exploding frustration that my boys had no idea where any of their clothes were (even though they carried armloads of clean and folded laundry into their room only two days earlier) . . . I declared that Saturday afternoon would be spent decluttering their room.

There were no cheers of delight.

I didn’t care.

I sat on the bottom bunk holding a black trash bag and leaning on a laundry basket designated for donations.

And . . . I spouted off many words of motherly wisdom:

1.  Don’t start over there.  Let’s worry about the stuff you trip over first.

2.  Do we actually need that sheep/cuckoo clock?  (The one that baaas on the hour.)

3.  It can’t be your favorite drawing if it was at the bottom of a pile of trash.

4.  Do you even see that corner?  That one.  The one piled high with stuff?

5.  Next time you receive a gift you know you’ll never, ever play with . . . let’s return it for something you’ll actually use.

6.  Please stop wasting your energy doing flips off side of the bed.

7.  The corner!  The SAME corner.  Please don’t leave that corner until it is completely clear.

8.  Where do books go?  Put them there.

9. IF I let you keep that snakeskin, it must NEVER be left anywhere where I could possibly accidentally touch it.  Ever.

10.  Any money that is not in your personal designated “money spot” will be divided equally between you.  Period.  Shhh.  We’re not discussing it any more.

 

What are some things you’ve heard come out of your own mouth while helping your kids purge the, ahem . . . clutter out of their rooms?