Bribing myself to do housework

I may be in my thirties, but I still have to bribe myself to do tasks I hate. Like cleaning up the house. With Bradley gone all week last week, and a crazy weekend with weddings, showers, and Mother's Day, the house got very very messy. And I don't even want to think about the last time I mopped the kitchen floor. (Mostly because I can't remember!)

But I love having a clean house. I love the way it makes me feel, how I don't worry about someone dropping by, how I can relax and veg with a good conscience. So why do I let it get so messy?

Because I hate:

• Cleaning something that will be dirty in less than 24 hours (heck, I'm lucky if I get 4 hours, with the playroom)
• Cleaning something that I didn't make dirty (see the playroom again)
• Trying to get my children to help me (this drives me NUTS. I get SO bad-tempered because my four-year-old moves approximately as fast as a drugged snail, and my two-year-old dumps the cars I just put away, and my five-year-old whines about how he is too tired to clean)

And because I'm lazy, too. I'd rather sit on the couch with my feet up and eat bonbons while surfing the web. (What, exactly, are bonbons?)

So today I bribed myself, not unlike my mother used to bribe us. I set a timer for 15 minutes, and worked as hard and as fast as I could. Then I sat down with my kids and played a computer game with them for 15 minutes. Then 15 more minutes of cleaning, etc.

It's amazing how much I've gotten done. The dining room and the front entryway are mopped and sparkling, the family room/playroom is tidied and vacuumed. (Gee is hilarious; he loves the vacuum so. If I get it out he zooms over with walker, he talks lovingly to it ("Hi, vacuum! Love vacuum!"), giggles the entire time I'm vacuuming, and practically cries when I put it away ("Bye, vacuum. Thanks, vacuum!") He's a weird kid. Cute, but weird.)

It feels really good to have a clean (parts of) house. Now we'll see if it lasts long enough for Daddy to see when he gets home from work in 3 hours.