The Art Of Cleaning

My son has a slight problem he seems to be allergic to chores. He is quite good at talking his way out of doing things. I ask him to clean his room and he tells me, "I like it this way mom, plus I can find everything since it is all on the floor." How can you argue with this? I ask him to pick up his clothes that are scattered throughout the hallway and he states, "Mom, I am helping you by having my clothes here." I am puzzled by this answer and ask, "Why is this helping me, Ian?" Ian gets a big grin on his face and says, "I am helping you so all the dirty clothes are in one place...if I pick them up, then you will not be able to find them." Ok, he has got me again. What do I do about this? I am always so proud of him that he comes up with these very cleaver responses, but at the same time I worry about his future wife. If he doesn't learn to clean, golly what will his house look like once he is on his own?? I can imagine his wife asking Ian to please help clean up the house and Ian will sweetly reply, "If I clean up how will you get exercise?" Ack! I have to teach him to clean, but how? If you tell Ian to clean his room he will stand in the doorway to his room and just look at the floor. I can tell he is completely baffled where to start. I told him anything that is on the floor pick it up and put it away. This works for about 5 minutes, until he sees a Bionicle in the corner and decided it needs a new sword for some sort of epic battle. So I thought maybe I need to start with something a little more specific...like pick up the books on the floor. Yay! He does this with ease, then starts to play again. "Ian, you are not done yet." I say. I then ask him to pick up his clothes and put them in the hamper. Ian does this within two seconds and then picks up a book to read. "Honey, your room is not clean yet." I say. I then ask him to pick up his toys. Ian responds with a loud, "Mom, I am still playing with these and If I put them away I will not be able to find them." Again, he got me. I then got him!! "Ian do you like spiders?" I ask. "No!" Says Ian. "Do you like mice?" I say. "Why?" asks Ian, with wide eyes. "Well, if you do not pick up your room spiders and mice might come to live in here. .. they like cold dark spaces." I said. Ian looked horrified and said, "Mom, I think I need to learn how to clean so that my room is not a home for tiny creatures." Ian stated. Yay! I got him... At least for today.