Spring Cleaning at Christmas Time - Yay!

SM is coming for Christmas come He** or high water. I told her yesterday that I was coming to get her even if she was deathly ill. I told her that I was coming to get her even if I was deathly ill. There is no getting out of a trip to ETN this year. She's coming even if I have to walk there, toss her over my shoulder and walk back! That being said, I wonder if I haven't taken on too much responsibility this year? I say this because now that I know (and she knows) that SM is coming, the race is on to get the house in order for her impending arrival. There's still tons to do...plus I plan to cook. I have a menu in mind and I want to be the one to do it because it's the first Christmas where we all get to be together in MY house. I spent two hours on Tuesday night cleaning and organizing Little Bit's room. Last night, it was Kiddo's room. He "helped" but he mostly got in the way and I was making a desperate effort to get it done before he went to bed. It was such a complete disaster and we've been fighting with him for days to get it done - even going so far as to threaten to put everything into a black plastic trash bag and throw it all away (which Hubby even tried). Nothing motivated Kiddo. Nothing. He screamed and cried when he thought his stuff was being thrown away, but it still didn't make him do anything. So I did it. The room is lovely now. The toys are all put away in their proper place. The bed is made. There is nothing under the bed that shouldn't be there. The area rug is vacuumed. His clothes are put away. When I tucked him in his newly-made bed last night, he was asleep in seconds. Both he and Little Bit slept well in their clean rooms. Here's what I think: I think that they both slept well in their clean rooms because they were clean. There's got to be something to all the Feng Shui stuff. The rooms were clean and clutter free, so why shouldn't the occupants sleep soundly? Free of cluttered dreams and fitfulness? Their surroundings have got to have something to do with it...don't you think? Tonight, Hubby is working and I am focusing on our room. My plan (as much as I hate to admit this) is to put the kids in the living room in front of their favorite Noggin programs and go to town. If anyone thought Kiddo's and Little Bit's rooms were a disaster, they haven't seen nothin' yet! Our room won't get done in two hours. Two days, maybe...but definitely not two hours. Last night I was still fired up and cleaning around 11PM - folding laundry and putting stuff away - even though I was thoroughly exhausted. This morning at 6:30 found me folding more laundry and trying to match the bazillion stray socks that I found in Kiddo's and Little Bit's rooms when I was cleaning them. I don't know how they can have so many socks that don't match! I guess that's always going to be a mystery. Once our room is clean, then the rest of the house is going to be a piece of cake. The bathroom just needs a good wipe-down and the kitchen, though messy, is small and shouldn't take much time. The living room needs to be de-cluttered and vacuumed, but otherwise isn't a complete disaster. Now, after I get the place picked up, all I have to do is threaten my family within an inch of their lives to keep the place clean. I'll do it. I swear I will. I'm serious! You wanna live in a cardboard box? Drop that sock in the middle of the floor and see if I mean what I say! No, those cars do not belong in the living room - put them back in your room...right this second! Why is that book under the couch? Whose sippy cup is this and what is it doing in the bathroom sink? You wanna cross me? I can take you. See if I can't! TTFN JMS PS: Merry frikkin' Christmas! :)