The Rules are the RULES

There are two rules that I am trying very hard to burn into my children's souls.  The first rule is "Clean up your old mess before you make a new one."  The second rule is "Work first, then play."  In theory this will make my life (and their future lives) easier.  In practice......well, we are still working on practice.

This afternoon I had a project I really, really, really wanted to work on, but there were several messes scattered around the house.  Since I had just finished nagging (yes, I did nag, and I'm proud of it!) my kids about cleaning up their toys before dragging out more I decided I better put my money where my mouth is.  Besides, there is always a chance my own mom will drop in and she might be tempted to remind me of some rules she tried to burn into my own soul.  (I love you Mom!)

So, first I cleaned up this mess:

Somehow my forcing them outside made
their mess my problem.

Then I washed these:

I decided that it was legitimate to wait to take care of this pile, since more laundry was "in process."

After my home was returned to the normal, immaculate state:

Image found here

I FINALLY got to get started on my project:

It is a brand new Console Table for the front entryway.

And when I was all done putting it together, do you know what I did?

I cleaned up the mess, of course.  Because as the rules state: you can't start a new project until the old one is cleaned up.