Parents with children at home for the summer - listen up!

 Look what I woke up to?  A clean kitchen.  Now why is this such a big deal?  I set a new rule this summer... Mom cleans the kitchen only every three days.  My four girls pair up and in pairs they take a day and clean it all day - dishes, floor, refrigerator, pantry... the way I clean.  I said I wasn't spending my summer picking up after them.

They found out I meant it when they made plans and I nixed them.  I pointed to the kitchen which looked like a hurricane had swept through and I picked up my keys and left for the horse barn (yes, I smiled the whole way there :)

This morning I came upon the above.  I have condensed it into a poem that (to me) is more like an answered prayer:

Kitchen Rules

Wipe, wash, rinse
thrice daily,
scrape your plate
napkins in trash,
take it out
remember recycling
scrape, wash, put away
pans, cooking bowls
immediately
(don't ever leave
peanut butter on a knife).
A friend visiting?
Clear their spots,
rinse their dishes.
Popcorn, snacks?
Check for crumbs!
Put stuff away,
and don't forget,
dining table
is part of kitchen;
wipe it up.

If rules aren't followed,
you will be sole
kitchen cleaner
for the summer!

I'm watching...

signed,

a "concerned" sister

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365