Blood May Be Thicker Than Water... But You're Still Cleaning You're Own Room!

Just living here is chaos.  But I found it even more exhausting when time after time, I would give my boys a job to do around the house and they would come to me with their serious cherubic faces, charlatan claims bouncing off their deceptive little tongues: "all done!"  So I would stop what I was doing and go take a look, only to discover that they weren't even trying to fool me really, they were just hoping I wouldn't check.

Or wait, no- that can't be the whole thought process because soon enough they learned that I would be checking their work before they were released to the freedom of play, and yet they would still come in a zillion times more, the progress meter inching grudgingly to 5%, 12%, 37%, 50% completion- driving me crazy and keeping me from getting anything else done!  Perhaps they just hoped they would wear me down.  Not a bad plan, really, except eventually, I'm bound to have the stamina to really hang in there...

So, finding myself unready to yield to that life-sapping idea,  I decided to instruct them to have each other check the work before bothering me. Which was fine, except those little buggers are sneaky!  If they wanted to get along and play together, they would just approve of the most ridiculous results- out of loyalty, I suppose.  Afterall, blood is thicker than chore-sweat, right?  The bro-code is serious business.  Not to mention, with the right incentives these children of mine are easily bought.  And soon I found myself frustrated at two or more children each time I asked for something to be done instead of just the one original little slacker!

And then, finally- one frustrating, head-pounding, hair-wrenching day marked with much weeping and gnashing of teeth (mostly mine)- like a ray of sunshine bursting through thick menacing clouds... it came to me.  An idea so delightfully simple that I couldn't believe I didn't think of it before!  They HATE it. So, naturally I love it.  And while I can't claim a miracle cure for every day and every chore, it has truly worked wonders.

Here are the guidelines for my little "slave-labor" quality controllers: Check the work. Check it thoroughly. Check it knowing that if I come in after you've approved the work, and I disagree with your analysis- YOU will be the one finishing the job!

Suddenly, it's a brand new game!  It is truly nothing short of amazing how their observation skills have improved, to say nothing of how much more I can accomplish during chore time these days.  The price for fake stamps of approval are so high now that no one can afford them.  And it turns out that a brother's love will take you far, my friend, but not that far.  Clean your own room!