Snippets of Nicky's Room

My two older kids are supposed to have their rooms clean every morning before they leave for school. The rule is that they don't get to use any electronics that day if they don't have it clean before they leave. It sounds simple enough on paper, but enforcing it is a beast simply because I don't know what standard to hold them to. Obviously they are not going to make their beds or clean their rooms as well as I would, but I'm not sure how lenient to be. Every day, I go down there and find their blankets sloppily spread on their beds with all sorts of stuff buried underneath. Their floors always have Legos or pieces of garbage on them. And every day I think, "Are they taking me for a sucker or is this really all they are capable of?" Then I don't know if I should take away electronics for the day or not. Did they really, sincerely try? I'm not so sure.

We are working on this... always and forever.

Today I was fed up with their rooms, so I cleaned them to give my kids a fresh canvas to work with. Then tonight I plan on walking them through (for the millionth time) what I expect of them. I'm going to outline these standards:

-Nothing should be under your bedding. If I find a stray blanket, a stray stuffed animal, or even a stray sock under there, you do not get electronics for the day.

-I should be able to come in your room with a vacuum and not have to pick up anything. If I suck up a Lego or a Tootsie Roll wrapper while I'm vacuuming, you do not get electronics for the day.

We will work on surface areas like dressers and nightstands another day. Baby steps.

(But really, why are my kids such hoarders?)

Cleaning their rooms gave me a minute to reflect on who they are and how they've changed over the years. While I was cleaning Nicky's room, I realized that two or three years from now, I will probably be looking at a very different bedroom. For now, his room still reflects a child. There is no teen angst within his walls or signs of an adolescent trying to figure himself out. Even though he has grown up a lot, Nicky is still enveloped by the innocence of childhood.

I spent a moment in his room just looking at his things.

His Diary of a Wimpy Kids books - oh the hours I have spent trying to get him to read something anything else. Up until a few weeks ago when we forced him to read Michael Vey, he kept reading the Wimpy Kid books over and over and over...

His chickens - Nicky has been obsessed with chickens since he was three. If the day ever comes where he isn't a fanatic for chickens, I will die a little inside.

 

His inventions - Nicky is always making things. A whiles ago he built a hockey game out of cardboard boxes and magnets. A few days later, he built this helmet. I'm not sure what its purpose is, but it has a carrying handle on top for convenience, and I'm not allowed to use said handle to carry it to the garbage can.

 

His bedding - Nicky's bed has always been a point of contention for us. He wants all the pillows and all the blankets of the house on his bed along with every stuffed animal he owns. He also insists on having a memory foam mattress topper, and sometimes it gets out of place, and he will sleep on it all lumpy and folded. I've nagged him for years about only having one extra blanket and one stuffed animal on his bed.

His portrait of the Colonel - Nicky drew this picture to commemorate our cat when we put him to sleep a few years ago. He still talks about the Colonel all the time. Nicky and the cat were the best of friends. It's something we'll never get back.

 

When I think about what the next few years might steal from Nicky, it makes me want to just lock him in there, especially now that it's really clean. 

Stay here, boy. With your Legos and your stuffed animals and your Thomas the Train blanket. Don't go out there where you will be lost and confused. I'll let you read Diary of a Wimpy Kid for all eternity!