I should totally be cleaning the kitchen right now.  But it is so much more fun to write while the kids happily play Wii.

I must say that I love Wii.  I love that the kids play it for minutes at a time without fighting.

Any minute in our house that doesn't result in someone saying, "You're stupid!"  "Moooooo-oooom!  Someone called me stupiiiiiiid!!!" is a minute I can play Solitaire Blitz clean the kitchen.

Our life hasn't always been this carefree.  When the kids were toddlers I had a serious fear of open spaces.

Because if it was just me, and the kids decided to run in different directions, I had to decide who I loved the most.  Was it the girl who was hurtling toward a pond and would drown or the boy who liked to get up close and personal with large vehicles??

We were invited to a cook out at a friend's house one evening.  They have a pond and a barn and lots of open space.  All I could think was that even if my husband came along there was no way we could keep track of four 3 year olds in a crowd.  I asked her if the pond had a fence around it and she gave me the strangest look that said "No of course not you idget.  Nobody puts fences around their ponds!  That is why we have a pond!"

I explained that I wouldn't be able to keep track of all the kids in an open space, at night, with a pond.  I think that our friendship died that day.  There was never any chance when she said, "Oh we just let the kids run free."

For me that would be like leaving my kids on a street corner in a strange city and saying they would find their way home.

So now we aren't friends.  I guess that is okay.  I have other friends who understand when I say that bedtime is whenever I am tired of policing the herd.

It is easy to fall into the helicopter parent mode when you have so many kids the same age.  I do my best but every so often am hit with a moment when I think that my kids could do that and why the heck are my kids not doing that yet.

This summer the moment has been chores.  Where have chores been all my children's lives?  I am just floored by how much cleaner the house stays when the kids are responsible for their little jobs.  For one thing they  love having a little bit of responsibility.  They ask when they can do their chores, sometimes, even!  I am not saying that they always just hop up and chirp along like little Disney bluebirds to my Snow White or anything.  But they do love checking off their chore chart every day.

Another bonus is that when my child does half the job of emptying the dishwasher or folding laundry, it is so much easier for me to finish it up!  So laundry gets folded!  Dishes get put away!  I am telling you that this has been life-changing!

And the best part is that after talking to many many moms, we are NOT paying the kids for these chores.  Not with money at least.  I am using privileges.  If they do their kitchen duty then they can choose any seat at the table for meal time.  If they do their laundry chore then they can be the first to choose clothes in the mornings.  If they do their garage job (cleaning out the van and emptying the garbage) they can choose any seat in the van.  And the most wonderfullest (go away red dashy line I am making up this word!!) chore of all is cleaning the living room and playroom of toys.  That blessed child gets control of the remote for Wii or TV!

aaahhh-Ahhh-AAAAHHHH!  (That is the angels singing praises for chores!)