I just couldn't

" You will not do anything after school until your room is clean" I roared! There was not a single space on the floor that was not covered with tutus shoes or drawing material.

It was an idle threat. I knew I wouldn't follow through even as the thought was forming in my brain. So why did I bother to breath out such threatening words? Simple. I was agitated by the mess and it seemed like the thing to say.

In reality, I knew that she would come flying off the bus full of excitement about her day. I would ask about every detail, sit all the kids down for a snack, and most likely a Popsicle as well because it is so blasted hot right now, and then exclaim "go, run, play!" OK not really but you get the idea.

When I was little I had a friend who's house I would play at occasionally. We always had a great time, but when we walked in the door after school the first thing her mom would do is sit us down at the table and insist that every piece of homework be completed before we locked ourselves in her room and immerse ourselves in imagination.

I understand the logic of it now. Evenings are crazy enough with dinner, baths, and end of the day grumpies, so throwing in homework on top of that doesn't sound like much fun at all. But here is my school of thought, and I hope I don't offend any of you highly organized moms by saying this, kids need to have some down time after school and making them go from sitting still in a classroom all day to sitting at the table doing homework is just plain mean!

The world is not going to come crashing down if her room stays messy for an extra 45 minutes.