Thank you J. Lo

Our house is disgusting. Seriously disgusting. If feels like it is never clean and it is all I can do just to make sure that there are clean clothes and homemade meals. It is really getting to me. We have a never ending stream of visitors who arrive in the late evening with computer problems , software difficulties, academic troubles, etc. I can only imagine what they must think as they leave their unquestionably pristine and organized homes and enter ours... the abode of filth and chaos. Especially in the evening. After dinner. Before the dishes have been done or the table cleared, in the midst of finishing homework and activities. And with the rain I have to hang the laundry indoors. So that our already cramped house looks incredibly less spacious. The spare bed has become a dumping ground for clean clothes...but at least they're clean. The garage is becoming crammed with boxes for this fictitious house we think we might build one day... and now that the sofas are out Mehran is busily collecting toilets and tapware from the auction. Sigh. The floors desperately need to be scoured, I feel utterly defeated by the cleaning that never ends, our couches are supporting some sort of accelerated dust bunny breeding program, the laundry is conspiring against me and the kids, despite the fact that I am quite certain I constantly feed them, are always hungry. Sigh!

Over the years, but more consistently over the last year I have been trying to get the kids more involved in doing jobs and helping out. We have used the chore can, lucky dips, cleaning charts and games yet even so, the moment I mention cleaning Bayan (who used to be my staunch little helper) actually bursts into tears. Loud. Dramatic. Wails of protest. But honestly I get how he feels. If it were socially acceptable I might just do the same thing.

So, I am currently trying to declutter the house but have also hit on something else that works...for now. Heaven knows what tomorrow will bring. Before I had kids, and lets face it I have never been a huge fan of housework, to make cleaning more fun I used to put on some loud, energetic music and clean up while I listened. I found this to be both fun and effectual. The same, it would appear, holds true with the kids. Jennifer Lopez has a song out "On the floor..." Which is actually perfect because we have so much stuff on the floor that it has kind of become become our clean up theme song. I put the music on, nice and loud, and the kids actually start packing up while they dance and strut and pirouette. We're having a blast and everytime that phrase comes up I belt out over top of J. Lo "Get it off of the floor..." with as much gusto and enthusiasm as I can muster (I know. My kids will probably need all kinds of therapy by the time I am finished with them... but what can you do?) and the kids like this and they smile while they pick up toys, pack away crayons, put away dishes and help "fold" laundry. We're still workin' on that last one. But the house is getting tidied, no one is crying - in fact look how much fun they're having (Anisa's the blur in the middle) even Maryam who just watches in wonder and all is well in the world even if the dust bunnies are still breeding behind the sofa.