Sean Strikes Again

Oh Sean, is all I have to say and that I am not really surprised. We had talks over the summer about opening snacks and things and then leaving the trash on the floor or on the furniture. I haven't seen as much trash lying around, so I thought they had been getting the hang of cleaning up after themselves. I guess Brian is the only one that got it.

I was straightening up the living room this morning and saw a juice box wedged between the wall and the couch - it was lemonade and had a yellow lollipop stuck to it. I immediately knew that it belonged to Sean - it was yellow and Brian doesn't drink lemonade.

the stuck juice box

I tried to reach it but it was down too far. So, I innocently pulled the couch out a little. I just stood there staring at the floor! There was so much trash down there - I could have just screamed. But I was shocked into silence, so I just stood there with my mouth open. The really sad part is that Sean could have eaten all this in about a day or two!

I took inventory - 1 melted ring pop, 2 paper plates, 1 juice box, 2 juice box straws, 1 juice box straw wrapper, 1 half-eaten lolli-pop, 2 lolli-pop wrappers, 3 lolli-pop sticks, 2 used wipes, 1 pop-tart wrapper, 4 popsicle sticks, 9 half-eaten peanut butter crackers, 7 peanut butter cracker wrappers, 3 grapes that now look more like raisins, 1 hairy fruit snack, 1 ginger snap with a bite missing and about 102 pretzel sticks!

melted ring pop

the mess

close-up #1close-up #2close-up #3

I called to Sean, "Hey, buddy, what is with all this trash behind the couch?' He looks at me with those huge guilty eyes - I think his eyebrows were almost touching his hairline! He says, "I don't know. Maybe you should ask Brian when he gets home from school.." I say, "I don't think it was Brian because it is all the stuff that you eat." Sean says, "Let me see." He comes over to the couch and peers down at the mess and says, "Nope not me!" Nice try kiddo!

I am not in the mood to argue, so I go to the kitchen and get a small trash bag. I hand it to him and tell him to start cleaning it up. He looks at the trash bag and says, "Mom I think we need a bigger bag, this is a big mess!"

"I have to do this?"scratching his head in disbeliefgetting to workstill going"I am not touching that hairy fruit snack!"

As he is cleaning he has a lot to say:

"I could have never done all this!"

"I am not touching the hairy fruit snack!"

"I think Brian was eating some of this!"

"Daddy left some things too."

"Cleaning is hard work!"

"Can I have a popsicle?"

"Roc needs to pick up his fur!"

"My arms are tired."

"I hope you don't ever make me do this again!"

He did a really job cleaning and picked up every last wrapper and pretzel crumb. Then he looked at me and said. "Mom, I am such a great cleaner-uper!" I said, "You did a great job!" Then he said, "Now can I have a popsicle?" Of course I let him have one.

Okay, so these kind of posts make me look like a bad mom and an even worse house cleaner! I am really afraid to look under the cushions now! I don't even want to think about what he might have stashed behind is bed! This is the stuff that goes on in a house with kids - at least with my kids anyway! I say so what if my kid is a slob - he got it from his Dad! Notice he didn't blame me for any of the mess!