I won't say he's my favorite, but...

Every summer there is the dreaded ritual of deep cleaning the children's bedrooms.  I need to poke and prod and cajole and it takes time and patience and big garbage sacks.

But now, Mark.

When we moved here, I turned them loose on their own bedrooms.  I certainly had bigger fish to fry (like an entire house to organize).  Mark has his bedroom which ebbs and flows in organization and he has his toy room in the basement which is basically a shrine to Lego bricks.  He's tried several times to bring some order to the room because like his school desk, he uses it and wants it tidy and usable.  He came to me with the quandary that he needed more storage in there.  And then I realized that he really had no storage and I should have addressed the problem a long time ago.

But that's what summer is for.

Mark is enthusiastic about the undertaking.  Unlike his recalcitrant siblings, he wants to get it done.  Instead of me having to poke and prod and cajole, he feels like I am doing him a huge favor by helping him with the project.  He has thanked me profusely a few times.

While Braeden and Emma would have argued long ago that it was good enough and who cares anymore, Mark is careful and purposeful.  He contemplates how best to utilize the space and storage.  He went through a box and created a pile of things he wanted to get rid of.  Without me asking him to!

All the toddler messes that boy ever made are forgiven.  Throwing away stuff of his own accord!  Mark for president!

I hardly know what to do with myself.

We still have a ways to go but here is the behemoth that was in Mark's bedroom. (It looks deceptively small in the picture.  It is about as tall as I am.)  Adam and Braeden made short work of two flights of stairs.  Turns out marrying a strong husband pays dividends when you have strong sons.  Win win.  (Except for the feeding them part.)

the white box on top is chock full of toy guns, swords, light sabers, and wands...we're pretty much ready for anything

This table is for the in progress and completed creations he isn't ready to disassemble yet.  There are always plenty of those:

Not shown is the tremendous pile of stuff outside the room that we still need to sort through, contemplate and ultimately (hopefully) get rid of.  It's a good start.  I'm hoping Mark will help me clean Braeden's and Emma's rooms.  (Maybe while they're at work...)