This Works Like Magic

Things got a little too messy around my house tonight. Only because Derrick was not here. ;) Oh, how Derrick's ways are higher than mine. ;) Life really does run more smoothly when we follow his advice. When dinner was winding up I thought, well, actually said aloud to the kids almost under my breath, "I wish I could just close my eyes and open them again and everything would be clean." I didn't have the energy to play the roll of a drill sergeant. My heart even physically feels weak today. Then I remembered my niece, Mia's, little game. I can't remember the name of it but something similar to "Hide and Go Seek." I think it may be called, "Hide and Go Clean." She taught it to my kids one time when they were helping to pick up before we left their house. I remembered it was so much fun for the kids and I was the "counter." Mia told me to count to 60 and close my eyes. The kids whirled around me breathless and cleaning. I threw in a Mississippi between the numbers. When I opened my eyes the room was clean. I thought, "Wow! Note to myself..." I didn't remember it much again until tonight. I'm so thankful it came to my mind. I said, "Hey! Remember that game we played with the cousins?!" The next thing you know I was relaxing comfortably in a chair with my eyes closed while the kids went about the living room and kitchen cleaning. I did end up having to count to about 160 (with Mississippis)for this mess though. ;)It was so nice to open my eyes and see order again. There were still some crumbs here and there and things for me to do but it wasn't so hard to imagine tackling anymore. Thank you, Mia! I'm going to try to use this when I walk into a messy bedroom too. It kind of reminds me of Flylady's concept of setting a timer and cleaning a troubled area for 5 minutes.