Every single day, I gave my daughter the same reminder.
“Clean your room.”
The next day…
“Clean your room.”
And the day after that…
“Clean your room.”
Eventually, she’d had enough.
She crossed her arms and said,
“Dad, this is my room!”
“Why should I have to clean it every single day?”
I didn’t argue.
I didn’t raise my voice.
I didn’t ground her.
Instead…
I drove quietly to the grocery store.
Bought a bag of black rice.
Came home…
And sprinkled it all over her bedroom floor.
A little while later, I casually walked past her room and said,
“You might want to clean in there.”
She rolled her eyes.
So I leaned in and whispered,
“…because I think the mice have been pooping all over your floor.”
She froze.
Looked down.
Looked closer.
Then let out a scream and grabbed the vacuum.
Let’s just say…
Her room has been spotless ever since.
Turns out…
The fear of mice can be a surprisingly effective housekeeping coach. 😂
