A Snow Day

After working at the store for the last two weeks getting it converted to Christmas, I now find myself faced with several days in what used to be my house, but is now a complete pig sty.  Not only have I not been home (nor Chris, for that matter) to do dishes, laundry, vacuuming, dusting, or general cleaning, we also lost our fridge, so cooking and storing food has just added to the mess.

The morning greeting us with a light snowfall, which of course has inevitably shut down the entire western Washington area.  Chris is giving me a much needed break by working at the store this afternoon for the few customers that will brave the extreme stormy weather for a visit, and I hope to reward him (and me!) with a clean house when he gets home.

Ben has what we call his "Yay" Chart, which is just a simple piece of tag board tacked to the pantry door, with a grid drawn with sharpie.  Eat time he accomplishes some kind of task (puts away toys, is good while out, uses the potty, etc), he can earn a sticker; when he's earned a whole row of stickers, he gets a prize. 

I remember that the other day, Ben volunteered to help me with the dishes, so I have a brilliant idea.

Me: "Ben, would you like to earn extra stickers by helping me around the house?"

Ben: "O-Kay!" (Ben never ever says "Yes."  Just "No" or "O-Kay.")

Me: "We can add a line to your chart for Housework.  Would you like that?"

Ben: "O-Kay!"

Me: "You want to help around the house?  You want to help mama vacuum, and wash dishes, and do laundry?"

Ben: "O-Kay!"

Me: "Ben, do you actually get what I'm saying?  If I asked you if you wanted to jump into a volcano, would you say yes?"

Ben: "Yes."

Yeah, I thought so.