Just leave it

My kids have got me pegged. They pretty much know if they leave their crap around long enough, I will pick it up. How do I know this? I asked my 8-year-old daughter why she leaves her laundry and toys and papers and books and stuffed animals and games and whatever else she owns all over her bedroom floor. Here is her response: "If I leave the mess, you'll clean it eventually." Huh? What kind of sucker does she take me for? Sure, I pick up their stuff from the living room and put it back in their bedrooms. Sure, I clean up the messy bathroom sink when they're done brushing their teeth. Yes, I have gotten the vacuum out to clean the paper scraps and food crumbs they've dropped on the floor. And of course I take the folders and homework and neatly put them in the backpack. And when I step on a little piece of something that they've left on the floor, I curse and yell and fume while I pick it up and put it back where it belongs. Wait a minute. I'm exactly the kind of sucker she takes me for! Come to think of it, just this morning I told her she needed to clean her room. She told me she didn't want to. Then she said she'd do it "later". Then after she'd gone, I went into hang up her laundry and found myself gathering up the dolls and other random junk from the floor. I couldn't help myself. I started to rationalize that if I put away stuff for her little sister, I had to help clean this room, didn't I? I had to actually force myself to stop. It hurt to put the dirty clothes back on the floor when I knew very well that I could easily walk to the bathroom and toss them in the hamper. I wanted so badly to organize the pile of papers on her desk and to neatly stack the books in her bookshelf. But, I had to walk away. Good for me. I get sick every time I look in that room and my blood pressure is probably skyrocketing because of the added stress of thinking about it, but at least I'm no sucker. Right?