What Do You Do All Day?

Have you seen this story? It has been passed around from inbox to inbox for a couple of years now.
I love it.
Makes me laugh every time I read it!

What Do You Do All Day?
A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog.
Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall.
In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.
In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.
He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened.
He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.
As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.
He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?"
She again smiled and answered, "You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?"
"Yes," was his incredulous reply.
She answered, "Well, today I didn't do it."

Can you relate to the mother in this story? I certainly can! Some days I feel as if the only thing I do is clean up other people's (read: my children's) messes, put away their things, throw away their wrappers, take care of their stuff.
I know - I'm the mom. To some extent I know this is my "job" and I want to serve my family with a glad heart. But I also know my kids are able to take care of their own "stuff" and they can pitch in and help out more than they do. I do want to serve them with a glad heart, but when my glad-ness is so challenged by the I-deserve-your-service-attitude I have gotten too often, I know something has got to change.
One day, somewhere between sweeping up crumbs and tripping over shoes, I decided there was going to come a time when my kids realize how much I do around here, and they were going to learn the importance of helping me out. But I didn't want to wait for the "someday" when they have families of their own and they begin to understand in retrospect. I wanted them to understand sooner, rather than later, so I decided I was going to quit. For awhile.
But I wouldn't do it while school was in session. I didn't want to disrupt their lives too much, and I thought my little object lesson would be much more effective if they were home all day.

Well, school's out. Hee hee hee!

So, my friends, next week - as in, the week of June 23 - I am taking myself off duty. I am not doing laundry. I will not sweep the floor. No one will catch me picking up wrappers and putting them in the garbage. I won't be loading the dishwasher or putting away cereal boxes. No wiping of counters, no hanging of towels, no picking up dirty socks.
Oh, I will take care of my things. I will rinse my own dishes and put them in the dishwasher, and I'll wipe up anything I spill. And dinner? Yeah, I think I'll still cook - I'm not that mean!
But as for everything else I do all day, i.e. the things my kids seem to not even realize I do, and really should be doing themselves - it's going to be all up to them!
I have been working on getting them to take care of their things, but there is still so much they seem to take for granted. My hope is this lesson of mine will truly help open their eyes and aid in making us a family who pitches in and works together peacefully and compassionately.
I'll spend this week preparing them for next week.(I've already told them it's coming.) I'll give them more lessons on doing laundry and I'll make lists of the little things I do all day for their reference. Not that I expect the kids to do it all, but I'll be hopeful.

And by the end of next week, whatever the condition of the house and the kids, I hope they will have learned the value of taking care of their things and messes right away. Maybe they'll appreciate dear ol' Mom a little more. Perhaps they will even decide to help when they see a need - without even being asked.
Yeah, I may be a dreamer. But I do have great kids. I know they are capable of rising to the challenge.
I can't wait to see what happens!

And I will keep you posted. (Pun intended! *grin*)