Making Your Malady Your Money-Maker

The other night while I was helping Emma take her bath, she suddenly proposed an idea to me.

"You know what we should do?" she declared with a mischievously delightful smile. "We should make our house super messy. Then when the people looking for the messiest house in America finds us, they will clean everything up and then give us stuff."

She was referencing one of the latest entries into the never ending death parade of reality tv shows/games show, Clean House: Search for the Messiest House in the Country. I haven't actually watched the program, but apparently Emma has. What I have learned about it from Emma and heather (who has also seen a episode or two), is that there is this team of people gong into horribly messy homes. Cleaning the homes up. Showing the families how hey could/should organize their homes better. And, eventually, give them new stuff to have in their newly cleaned homes.

Whatever.

I'm not going to spend time explaining why I think the show is stupid, without merit, and possibly exploitative and harmful to the participants. Instead what concerned me more is what this show, and other shows like it, could possibly be teaching my kids.

When Emma suggested that we intentionally make our house messy in order to attract attention and possibly free stuff, it told me that what Emma was learning from that show is that people are rewarded for having problems.

I understand that the show partially positions itself like they are doing something noble: saving someone or a family from their destructive behavior. But when you spin it all up in a slick TV package and lavish the people with gifts, it sure makes it look like a great way to be rewarded for not taking care of yourself.

So that's why I told Emma that I think it's better to just learn how to keep a neat house from the start. The people from the TV show will only clean up your house once. To be successful you need to learn how to keep a clean house on your own.

Plus, I further explained to her, who wants to live in that sort of filth just for the chance of getting a new TV or couch? I know i don't. And what if he people from the show never find our house? Then we're stuck in our filthy house. I don't want that.

Not sure if Emma took my preaching to heart, but I could tell from the look on her face at she was thinking about what I was saying. And our house has stayed clean.