We got a less than auspicious start to our summer yesterday. My two oldest children walked around like they owned the world, giving orders to the lesser beings in the household. I love my chickees, but they have a few things sideways, backwards and a little upside down.
Dave and I altered the environment for our little queen and king at the end of the day. We locked the popsicle-filled freezer, made a job chart and announced that their world would be different tomorrow. There would be no computer time, no TV time, no friends, and the scheduled Tuesday craft day was canceled. Sounded sort of like I was being punished.
This morning after breakfast and story time I gathered our family royalty around me and handed them each a soapy bucket of water, a rag and an old tooth brush. They spent 1 1/2 hours scrubbing every tile and all the grout on the main floor of our house. We listened to music and worked together. They acted enlightened. "This is kind of fun, mom." I felt a small measure of success when Emma collapsed in happy exhaustion and announced that she will work harder every day so I don't have to work so hard. There has been less screaming, complaining, teasing and general unpleasantness. 
picture taken at the zoo about a month ago
Their world is happy and the king and queen have still had a lot of fun.
