Crowning Moments!

It was time to put my foot down.  The kid's rooms had gotten a little out of control over our busy week, especially Jentry's, my four-year-old's, who shares a room with her baby sister. 

We had friends over that day and they had trashed her bed/toy room.  All of the stuffed animals were piled on her bed.  Every Littlest Pet Shop house was off of the shelf.  All of the Littlest Pet Shop animals were scattered everywhere.  The play-kitchen dishes were all dumped in the middle of the floor and had been spread from the doorway to the kitchen set across the room.  The clothes I had folded for the two little girls had been dumped in the doorway, (that by Brooklyn, who prides herself in helping me put all of the clothes away.)  Five different card games had been dumped out and the Skip-Bo pile was mixed with the Monopoly Deal stack.  I couldn't even make out a pile for the other three games.  The room was seriously trashed!

I was putting Brooklyn to sleep and told my troops to run and clean up their rooms before bedtime.  I was basically out of commission and was hoping no follow-through would be needed.

Jentry had a meltdown.  She just couldn't face her job alone.  After three times coming out to tell me she just couldn't do it, I asked my older kids to clean a couple things in Jentry's room, just to get her started.

After this, it was quiet for eight minutes, until Jentry burst into the front room, ecstatic.  She was trying to be quiet so she wouldn't wake up Brooklyn, who by this time had fallen asleep, but she could hardly control her excitement.  "Mom, I'm all done!"

I have to admit, I was a little surprised.  I asked, "You got the whole thing clean?"

"Yeah!  Are you so proud of me?"

Proud?  Yes!  It was Jentry's "crowning moment"!  She was so enthused about her accomplishment she couldn't even stand still.  Her little body was jumping up and down.  Her smile was contagious. 

I poured on the praise.  I told her what a good worker she was.  I told her how proud I was of her.  I told her I knew that she could do it.

The angels were singing the Hallelujah Chorus in my mind.  I was relieved that I would be able to walk to the crib without tripping on a toy; that Jentry could get in bed without me having to go to a whole bunch of effort tonight.

As the third "HALLELUJAH!" was echoing in my mind, it came to a screeching, abrupt end as Jentry announced, just as enthusiastic as ever, "You can pretty much walk in, now!"

Not wanting to knock her little crown of glory off, I told her I couldn't wait to see it.  I carried Brooklyn into the bedroom that I wasn't sure I wanted to see.  Sure enough, I could walk in!  And if I balanced very carefully, I could follow the small winding trail where the toys had been pushed to the side, all the way to the crib!

Jentry had followed me and was waiting for my reaction.  I have to admit I was secretly groaning, but her look of expectation was more than I could resist.  I layed Brooklyn down and picked my excited little girl up and gave her a big squeeze.  I told her how big she was getting and that she had done a great job.  I thought to myself, "I guess I don't have ANYTHING to do tomorrow."

Jentry skipped off, still excited about her accomplishment, and seemingly satisfied with my response.  I had to smile when I heard her tell her sisters, "I'm all finished with my room!  Do you want me to help you with yours?"