Upstairs Downstairs

On Sunday night I got a rare eight hours of sleep. I decided to use it well and spent a lot of time yesterday doing chores. Somewhere between scrubbing toilets and hauling baskets of laundry up and down the stairs, Phoebe suggested a game.

Phoebe: Mommy, let's play princesses.

Me: I'd love to Phoebe. You can be the princess that helps clean up.

Phoebe: No, how about I'll be the princess and you be the servant who does all the cleaning. You'll be the maid.

I didn't love that game.

Later that evening I was reminding the kids to tidy their zones before dinner. I walked into the playroom and told Phoebe she needed to start cleaning up. She dramatically threw herself onto an ottoman, sighed loudly, and replied, "No, princesses don't do chores."

The consequence? She was demoted from princess to step-sister until the room was done.

She wasn't pleased.