A big mess, you think?

No, it's a boat. A very carefully crafted one.

This is one of my kids' favorite ways to play - they make the couch (or a bed, storage container, etc.) into a boat by loading it with about everything they can find.

Olivia used to do this when she was tiny, and now Jackson has caught right on in the ship-building skills. But they play a little differently - Jackson puts "only cool things, no pretty things" on his boat, and sometimes "just da boys" get to ride with him. Then he likes to jump off and pretend he fell into the water, but luckily he always makes it back before the sharks eat him.

Olivia things are set up just right, and if she decides to go for a swim she is Ariel and wants Prince Eric to rescue her.

A boat from another day. They like to be prepared for whatever may come on their journeys, or whatever the destination may be. In this pile there are actually all different containers full of treasures. And what happens next? Usually Jackson wants something Olivia has, she doesn't let him take it, he starts pushing all of her hard work onto the floor, she cries like her life is ruined, tells me to put everything back "just how it was," I tell her that's not possible, she cries even more, they take a little break, and back to ship building, making a store, or some other activity involving every toy in the house. That's the routine.

So it was time to clean up the family room, and this was their solution - a tri-level boat in Jackson's room. Ridiculous. And who gets to clean these things up? Maybe I just shouldn't allow them to play this when they make such a big mess - but they play together so well and it keeps them occupied for hours - (especially if they're sailing to somewhere far away). Isn't that great - I can get so much cleaning done while they're busy making a mess. I don't know if my kids are capable of playing with one toy at a time. Or less than 50 things at a time. Sometimes they're good at helping pick up their toys, but they get a little overwhelmed with jobs like this.

We got the last "boat" cleaned up and Jackson's room cleaned and vacuumed. A few minutes later Olivia told me, "Mom, I decorated Jackson's room! I made it really pretty." This is her decorating job- she spread out a bunch of blankets to cover the wood floor, plus his bed and table and chairs. She was pretty proud. This same day she also said to me, "Um, Maid, could you clean the ballroom so we can dance?"

So if your kids don't know how to build a boat, my kids would be happy to teach them. Your couch could look like this in no time.