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Cinco de Mayo

In the spirit of "let's find any excuse to take an evening off" Husband and I decided we should celebrate Cinco de Mayo.  Sadly, I don't really know much about the holiday.  Mexican independence?  I should probably find out for sure.  Because right now I think I know more about Dia de los Muertos.....which really isn't that much either.

Every time we decide to have an evening off we're pretty limited.  We have these really little people living here, and for some reason they require constant attention.  So instead of leaving the house for a magical Mexican evening we had a "Date Night In." 

I'm sure it's not a new concept.  Basically, one of us grabs some food (that isn't a Happy Meal) and we rent a movie from Redbox.  Then we sit on our couch and ignore any and all whining from the sleeping kids' bedrooms.

I had to run a few errands that evening anyway, so I was the one who picked up dinner.  I was planning on Mexican food.  On the Border chicken chimichangas with sour cream sauce are the best, and totally non-fattening, I swear.  But then I remembered how much Husband likes Panda Garden.  Which is not Cinco de Mayo-ish at all - unless the Chinese celebrate Mexican holidays.

But it turns out that getting food from Panda Garden was ok, because when I got there the front counter chick and the grill dude kept conversing, really loudly, in Spanish.

I almost told them to have a happy Cinco de Mayo, but instead I just kept my mouth shut as I left with my orange chicken and egg rolls.

*********************************************

My kids won't clean.  As in, NEVER EVER E-V-E-R.  It's excruciatingly frustrating.

I started taking things away.  TV, video games, movies, Netflix (yeah, my kids know what Netflix is...) playing with friends, going outside, BREATHING.  Nothing would motivate them to clean.

So a few days ago we took every single toy, shoved them all in the toy room, and shut the door.  They're officially grounded from everything.  (And the toy room is a certified disaster.)

You would think this would phase them, right?  Or at least affect them in some way?  NOPE.  They can't have tv, games, friends or toys and they're happy as clams.  In fact, they've been more compliant and cheerful since everything became off limits.  They play together all day using annoying things like blankets and their imaginations.

It makes me seriously think about getting rid of everything.  Maybe we'd all be a lot happier?  And at least I would never have to nag them to clean up their stuff if it was all imaginary.

Comments

Heather said…
Ooo. Interesting idea. Maybe put it all up in the attic with no intention of bringing it back down. Then if you really are happier without it after a few months... trash it all! This idea is fascinating me. You have to inform us how it turns out!
Heidi said…
Sounds like you have hit on a revolutionary idea, one the toy companies will pay big money to keep under wraps. I predict offers to buy out your blog, this post in particular, will soon be forthcoming.
Barbaloot said…
Ah-blankets and immaginations. I remember those days:)
I have the smae problem... tried everything. Nothing worked until we found out that my daughter's boyfriends room is SpotLess! (I saw it, she didn't). It made a slight difference.

And every once in a while, we go thru the toys and haul out a bunch. They never notice. So sad...
cc said…
I've been thinking of seriously downsizing as well. Maybe we should throw a giant toy garage sale together!
Claire said…
i'm all for clearing out kids' toys. I do it regularly. It's a necessary evil.
LisAway said…
Hey! That's how we date, except I usually just make a junky food type dinner like pizza or chicken quesadillas to eat with the kids then put them in bed and we watch a movie. How creative.

Our kids literally NEVER (almost) put anything away until we tell them to. How do you teach your kids to put stuff away. It's so unnatural to make yourself chocolate milk and leave EVERYTHING out on the counter. Doesn't that just feel weird? Ugh. Kids. Glad yours are being creative

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