Did he just say that?

My boys are truly miniature versions of their mama…on some days. Some days, I don’t know to whom they belong. One of my biggest fears is that I’ll leave them and that they won’t have someone here to do things that I do for them (great, there goes my anxiety over powering me again). So I’ve tried to prepare them by teaching some of the basic life skills that all functioning humans will need to know at some point in life.

They can wash and dry their own clothes, put them away because there’s no folding involve unless I do it, iron, sweep, steam mop, and clean very well. I’m really thinking about getting a cleaning service with the oldest two because their skills are pretty darn impecable for an eight and ten year (pats self on back). Well as karma would have it, God sends you yourself in tiny human form aka, your child, for kicks and giggles.

Again, for the most part, my house if fairly clean to say that I have a toddler that is hell bent on eating every single crumb of whatever off of the floor and taking off his diaper when he feels so inclined to do so. Well, some of my guests don’t quite understand that I’ve now made my boys the trash can cops and that they are constantly canvasing the kitchen for the right time to point out that the trash needs to emptied by the last person that filled it up.

When we got back home one evening, and I noticed that the trash was falling out of the trash can, and that one of them would need to rock, paper, scissor it out to see who would be taking out the trash that day. That just didn’t sit well with my middle son. He’s quirky, he’s an over thinker, he’s a smarty pants, and he always has an answer for something and it never includes him being responsible for it. He told me that after doing some investigation, i.e., looking back at the kitchen camera footage, he nor the older brother were responsible for the trash overload and therefore shouldn’t have to take the trash out. “Did he just say that?”

We have a fight about the trash being emptied at least three times a week, and I usally win because I’m mom and I weild my momming powers like a light saber when necessary, oh and I change the wifi password (no Fortnite for you buddy). This time, I was challenged by third grader logic. He said that since one of my friends were to blame for the trash can spilling over, then my friend should be the one to come back over here and take out the trash. Ah-ha! Did I mention that this kid was a smart aleck?

I had to think quick to counter this logic because he was right, but not really right. So I had to ask him if he should have to take out the trash at grandma’s house if he’s the cause of the trash spilling over? Of course, he said no. He also said that grandma doesn’t ask him to or requires him to do that and that since my brother lives there with grandma, he should take it out. Welp, I tried. It was a futile attempt, but I tried.

I soon realized that I was not going to win this battle, but I did have one more thing left in my arsenal. I told him that little boys who don’t do chores in the house where they live, didn’t get I-pads or playstation controllers back at the end of the school either soooooo. The kid had a point but I just couldn’t let him win that argument…being the competitive mom that I am. Did I mention that my kids act like their mama sometimes?

Chores are going a lot better this week and I’d like to think that my gentle reminder played a major role in this uptick of getting stuff done, but I don’t want to become a pain in the butt either by making them clean up every single thing all the time. Am I wrong for not wanting to go through repeating myself fifty time about them cleaning something, and just caving in and doing it myself? Or, should continue to force them to do it?