This is how Lucy has been feeling about Saturday jobs lately.
Claire has felt the same way, bemoaning the fact that she’s sure not one of her friends ever has to do Saturday jobs. They just play all day. Ha! (I know for a fact that’s not true.)
To be fair, most of the time these girls are all really great about jobs, but lately I think spring fever is getting to us all. There was a particularly crazy cleaning/organizing week mixed in there because it was the beginning of Spring Break and we were working our tails off…work before play you know…(we were heading out to visit Elle the next day).
You see, Grace had been trying to “earn” Elle’s bedroom since the day that big sister of hers left.
The deal: she had to keep her room clean for two weeks. Perfectly clean. Closet, bathroom counter, under bed, the whole deal.
She didn’t take it very seriously (Elle’s been gone a long time for crying out loud) until one day, after Claire told me how exasperated she was because of Grace’s mess spilling into hers, I told those girls they could both try to earn that bedroom that was sitting empty.
Grace saw that sparkle in Claire’s eye and got to work.
Nothing like a good competition I tell you, because miracles happen and that bedroom of theirs was clean as a whistle for two weeks straight. The deal was that if there was a tie, Grace got first dibs, so Claire gracefully helped Grace move out, and was excited as could be that they both got their own rooms.
Moving day was a big job.
We bit off a little more than we could chew that weekend!
Elle hadn’t really cleaned out much when she left…it was such a scramble when she moved away since she wasn’t really home at all last summer, so we went through so much STUFF as we organized. Trophies and awards, and old school projects and picture gems like this:
And this from a school newspaper from when we were living in China:
Which made me very melancholy.
Oh man I miss those two!
By the time we left to visit that college girl we had bagged up trash, give-away, boxed up and organized pile after pile, and three little (growing-up-too-fast) girls had their very own bedrooms.
…complete with those two above “liking their privacy” signs, and staying surprisingly clean I must add.
And although everyone is enjoying that new-found privacy of theirs, I think there’s part of them that misses being together. I love kids sharing rooms! Thank goodness for Miss Bo Jangles since she moved in to Claire’s room (in her kennel), and she keeps the house feeling a little more full 🙂
I love Lucy`s pants!!!
What's Elle doing this summer? She's not coming home?
Still trying to figure that out! If she comes home she'll use Max's room but may be working somewhere else for the summer.
How did Elle feel about losing her room ?
Elle has been gone for 11 months. Max also is gone. Her oldest two will be away 12 months a year besides the occassional meet up, most of them not even done at "home", and soon one or both will be married. She has already been to weddings of friends of both kids. This is what parents want, kids to fly at the appointed time. I'm surprised the girls didn't take over Max's room long ago. That is a lot of spare bedrooms.
I know this probably sounds strange but when someone says that someone is "gone" I keep thinking that the person has died, as that what we say in the UK when someone has died.
I always get really concerned about the person, until I realise they've "gone" to uni etc.
No offence meant with my comment. x
She was surprised no one took it over any earlier!
I am so glad that we get to take over Max's bedroom when we come. We and many other guests have enjoyed that place a lot. We're taking care of it until he gets home and decides he needs to be gone again! Hoorah for Grace and Claire!