Diana, my wife, is at wit’s end and it’s no wonder. Our three boys are at home. All. The. Time. Our oldest son is home from college. Our middle son is muddling through his last year of high school without any of the traditional senior activities to keep him busy. Then, there’s Robbie, 12, who is doing zoom classes at home three days a week.
What that means is a lot of meals, a lot of shopping, a lot of laundry and a lot of frustration. Never has the house been such a mess. When Diana and I get home from work at FCG, there’s a trail of debris from the stove to the countertop to the family room and up the stairs to the bedrooms.
Like millions of other working moms, Diana is desperate for guidance on how to navigate pandemic parenting. In a podcast for moms, she heard about a game that aimed to make tidying up fun and financially rewarding.
So earlier this week, she declared the start of the Frucci Clean-up Challenge. Our boys could earn points for making their beds, shoveling the walkway, taking out the trash. Ka-ching! Replacing the old trash bag with a new one? More ka-ching! The boy with the most points per week earned hard, cold cash.
Her chart was ignored for days. Then, Robbie, eyeing his brothers’ careless disdain of the challenge, figured he could lock in an easy victory for minimal effort. He grabbed a shovel and cleared a path through the snow, earning a point. Then, he moved on to the trash. The money, he chuckled to himself, was his for the taking!
Eventually, his two older brothers realized they were being outsmarted by the young whippersnapper. A flurry of cleaning erupted. Beds were made. Floors were swept, dishes washed and put away. For our boys, even cash doesn’t have the same lure as some old-fashioned competition.
At FCG, we understand the appeal of winning. After all, furnishing a home is a challenge. Our consignors score victories by selling their high-quality furniture. Our smart shoppers find bargains in our ever-changing inventory. Covid has made our lives a lot more difficult, but some things never change: everyone loves to be #1.
