"Oh my!" she said. "This room is so messy, and I'm already so tired, I just don't think I can face this one right now. Perhaps I'll come back later," and she closed the door to go work on other things.
Meanwhile, some little mice who had been hiding in the closet said to each other, "That nice old lady is always cleaning and working so hard to make this place look nice. We should do something special for her. Hey, I know! Let's surprise her by cleaning this room for her. That will make her so happy! She'll be so surprised!" With that, the mice began cleaning as fast as they could.
Soon after that, the little old lady came back. She opened the door slowly with a few jiggles of the handle (because the church was getting so old and the handle didn't always work properly) and when the mice heard her, they ran back into the closet and hid.
"Hmm, maybe this room isn't as messy as I remember," she said, "but it's still too messy to face right now." She looked around listing all the things that needed to be done, but it was still too overwhelming. "Oh dear, I still don't think I can face it yet. Maybe I'll save it for last," and with that she left the room and closed the door behind her.
Once the coast was clear, the mice came out, and began cleaning again, paying special attention to all the things they had heard the lady mention. They worked quickly and quietly.
A little while later, the old lady came back --once again struggling with the door, and the mice had just enough time to hide again before she came in. This time the lady definitely noticed a difference in the room.
"My goodness!" she exclaimed. "Something strange is going on. I'm sure it was dirtier than this when I was in here before. Maybe I'm going crazy, but I wonder what will happen if I leave it just a little bit longer..." She noted out loud the few things that still needed to be done, and tried to remember them just to make sure she wasn't imagining things, and then she slowly backed out of the room and closed the door.
The mice warily came out of hiding. They giggled to themselves to think that the lady didn't know it was them. They finished tidying up, until the room was spotless with nothing on the floor and everything in its place. There were a few things that didn't belong in the room, but belonged elsewhere in the church, and the mice quietly opened the door and set those things in the hallway. However, when they went to close that stubborn old door, "BAM!" it slammed shut and made a terribly loud noise. The mice squeaked in fright and hid in the closet again.
The old lady who had heard the noise came to investigate.
"What on earth was that noise?" She said to herself as she opened the door. "Oh!" she exclaimed, dropping her dust rag in surprise. "What's going on? Who has been cleaning in here?" She looked around in disbelief. "Perhaps it's magic? No... there's something here, in the dust... mice footprints! It was mice who cleaned this room for me. How kind! I will do something to let them know how grateful I am." And she quickly left the room.
The mice crept out of hiding, and found the dust rag lying there. They decided to use it, for good measure, and just as they finished up they noticed that the old lady hadn't closed the door behind her, but in fact she was peeking in at them with a kind smile on her face. They squeaked and quickly ran and hid, but she didn't chase them. She quietly walked into the room and gently set something down saying softly, "Thank you little church mice!" Then she turned and left, closing the door behind her.
When the mice finally dared to come out, they found a plate full of wonderful treats, perfectly fit for some helpful little mice.
THE END
This is a game we played as children with my mother or older sister playing the part of the old lady, and we got to be the mice. Why a church, and why mice? I have no idea. I'm not sure where the story came from, it may or may not be original, but I've definitely taken liberties with it as I've written it down here. After all, it was a little different every time we played (i.e. sometimes the lady left a vacuum instead of a dust rag, or both). Anyway, I have fond memories of this game. I recently introduced it to my own children and it's been a hit! I told them the story, and then the first time I had their dad do it with them as a mouse to show them how it's done (they are 4 and 2 after all), but since then they've shown themselves capable of cleaning their own room all by themselves!
Of course, as with all cleaning tricks and games, the novelty will soon wear off; but if it works for even a little while it's worth it right? I'll take whatever I can get.
I'll post other ideas to make chores fun as we try them.
Do you have any other fun cleaning ideas?
3 comments:
I remember the day when I found out this was a tricky way to get me to clean, rather than a real game. Ha ha. I felt so cheated and betrayed. At least your little mice get a pretty good treat! Much better than the raisins and saltines I remember getting. :)
I also remember "playing house" where I got to be a pretend mommy, but did my siblings' real dishes. :) Mom put a stop to that one amid protests of, "But she likes doing it!"
Yeah, that was probably me. :)
They've already figured out that the part of the old lady is the one to play; however, I told them that the old lady cleans the rest of the 'church' (which may or may not be true). My husband didn't know this and let my oldest be the old lady, and sure enough, he cleaned the whole living room and came up with a pretty good treat too all by himself.
love love love love. so kind and gentle and self-directed. so good! thanks for sharing.
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