Sandpits and Timeouts

I do try to be a positive, patient parent, but there are days...

I woke yesterday morning to peace in the house and immediately thought "What are they all doing?".  I found them in the garden, with an impromptu sandpit they had built using a bag of sand their dad had left in a corner of the garden.  "We're building sandcastles at the beach" declared Little Man, Gorgeous and my friends little boy who is staying, both in attendance.

My first thought was how cute! What a good idea. My second was, who was going to clear this mess up. I asked them to brush the sand together and put it back in the bag.  BAD IDEA.  Next time I looked the sand had gone from sitting in a little pile to being spread around the whole garden, in the downstairs bathroom, through the kitchen, the living room and on the living room rug.  I was furious.

Not only had they spread the stuff, they had had the bright idea of trying to wash it way (where did they think the water would go?).  So the whole garden was full of yellow slush and yellow puddles.  They even managed to make a big puddle in the neighbours garden, I'm still waiting for them to come round and complain.

I marched them upstairs, gave them all showers and ordered them to take a nap, muttering threats about cancelling Eid and keeping them in timeout for the rest of the holidays.  Sounds mean, but it took me over an hour to try and clean the mess and the garden still looks the same.  So I had to lock the garden to stop people bringing more sand in and put my laundry out indoors on a sunny day.

It took another hour to mop the bathroom, kitchen and living room and try to hoover some of the sand off the rug.  I have to say, mindless physical labour is excellent for working a temper off.

They were angels for the rest of the day, being given "the look" by me at every opportunity, finishing their dinner and going to bed quietly.  I might have a re-think about cancelling Eid, but I might not tell them that yet.  This cross-about-the-garden situation, might still have some leverage for a few days.