Another funny thing happened that I just had to share. Jamie was on the way home, and I'd told the girls that I'd like for them to clean their room before their dad got here. Lily got started right away cleaning the bathroom, and then when she was done she moved to her room to work on it. With exception to Lily, the girls drag out the chore of cleaning their room on every occasion. It's always a struggle to get them to do it. One day I got so fed up with the mess that I emptied their room. I removed everything but their beds. But that's a post for another day. One of the ways I motivate them to clean is to give them a quarter for each chore. They all have a piggy bank, and love to get to put money into it. So, eventually all the girls made their way to the room today, and started to clean it up for their quarter. I happened to be walking past, and they had a mess of their shoes in the hallway. So, I tell Rosalie to tackle the shoes. It should have only taken her 5 minutes, so I walked away expecting her to do it. I never went back to double check. They ended up getting the room cleaned (so they told me), we ate dinner, and then I told Lily to get me my change jar so they could get their quarters. Rosalie came with her hand out, and I asked, "You got the shoes put up like I asked you to, right?" Her response is the reason I'm writing this post. Rosalie said, "Well, my heart...my heart told me to play." Jamie and I looked at each other, and I ask, "What?" She says again, "My heart told me to play to me. But I didn't want to. But my heart told me to play." To make sure that I fully understood her, I ask, "So, you didn't pick up the shoes? You played while your sisters cleaned?" With her eyes wide open, she says, "I'll do it right now." And off she went to go pick up the shoes. She returned within minutes. She'd said she had cleaned up the shoes, and I ask, "What about your bed? If you didn't help with the room, did you make your bed like I'd asked?" She said, "I will! Right now...right NOW!" And she ran off to do that too.
Oh, that child makes me laugh so much. She expresses her feelings a lot by how her heart "feels." If you hurt her feelings, the response you can expect is "You made my heart melt" or "My heart is breaking." We do a lot of talking with our kids, so when something is on their mind they don't really have a problem explaining to us what's bugging them. I like having that relationship with them, and also like the way they are able to express themselves.
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