Making a Detestable Task More Delightful

The most dreaded chore in our house is cleaning up the school/play room.  After dinner one evening last week, I announced, "We're all heading up to the school room to pick up!"  Needless to say, my announcement didn't garner much enthusiasm.  Even I was less than enthusiastic.  Puke.  I know, such a first world problem--having so many toys that they morph into a den of chaos without the least bit of coaxing.  Nevertheless, the job had to be tackled as we were having little friends over to play the next morning.  I just needed to rustle up the verve to lead the troops into action.

So I asked Grace to pull Paul Simon's Negotiations and Love Songs out of storage in the basement.  The rest of the kids and I headed upstairs.  I began directing, "Jude, pick up all of the horses.  Joel, pick up the weapons.  Lydia, pick up the trains."  I started picking up the play kitchen stuff.  Soon, Grace got the music going and here's what ensued: