Mrs. Frump sat up yawning, rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and looked at the clock. "It’s only seven in the morning!" she exclaimed, "Why are you up so early?"

"We can’t sleep... we were too excited," yelled the twins, as they climbed into her bed.

Mrs. Frump pulled the sheets up over her face and groaned, "You two can’t get up on time for school, but today you’re up with the chickens. How is that possible?"

Jumping up and down on the bed like it was a trampoline, the twins were ready for fun. "I want to go to the pool and jump off the diving board!" Alexa said, in between jumps. "No!" Adam exclaimed, "I want to go to the zoo and hear the lions roar!"

"Hold it guys," Mrs. Frump interrupted as she got out of bed. "Stop jumping around like monkeys and let me tell you what we’re going to do today."

"What?" the twins said as they stopped, eager to see what fun activity was in store for them.

"We’re going to dig through the mess and organize your rooms."

"NO WAY! We don’t wanna!!" screamed Adam and Alexa, starting to bounce again.

Mrs. Frump made Adam and Alexa sit down on her bed and said, "You know the deal. Clean rooms keep your allergies and asthma from acting up. If you two want to have fun, we have to do the not-so-fun stuff first. It will go faster if we all pitch in and help."

Frowning, Adam and Alexa agreed they would much rather spend their summer break at the pool and the zoo than in the doctor’s office.

Immediately after breakfast, Mrs. Frump told the twins to get all their dirty clothes and the sheets off their beds, and bring them to her in the laundry room. "While I’m busy washing your clothes and sheets, I want you to go to your rooms and put away your toys."

A little while later, Mrs. Frump decided to take a break from folding laundry and check on the twins' progress. When she walked in, she couldn’t believe her eyes! She could see the floors of both Adam’s and Alexa’s rooms! Mrs. Frump was still in shock when Adam asked, "Are we done yet?"

"That depends," Mrs. Frump said as she got down on her hands and knees and peered under Alexa’s bed. She started pulling things out from under it. "One pink sock, missing sneaker, library book, purple paint, clothes from soccer practice, lollipop stick, your favorite doll, sticker collection, lipstick. LIPSTICK! I have been looking all over for this," murmured Mrs. Frump.

Taking her lipstick with her, Mrs. Frump left Alexa to put away the stuff pulled out from under her bed. "Now for Adam’s room!"

Mrs. Frump crinkled her nose when she opened her son’s bedroom door. "Adam, what is that smell? Is it coming from under the bed?"

Mrs. Frump looked under the bed. "HOLY MOLY! Adam, what do you have shoved under this bed?"

"I dunno," Adam replied. "Stuff, I guess."

Mrs. Frump shook her head and reached under the bed. "Mud-caked socks, broken crayons, headless action heroes, newspapers, empty juice box, stuffed Tigger without his tail, can of silly string, autographed baseball, jar with something brown and slimy in it, dirty plate with" Is this moldy thing last week’s pizza?"

Adam leaned over to pick up the moldy slice of pizza when a large yucky bug scurried from beneath the old pizza. Mrs. Frump jumped up onto Adam’s bed and screamed "COCKROACH! KILL IT, ADAM!"

"Cool!" Adam chased the bug up the wall before he squashed it with a book.

Alexa came running into the room to see what the commotion was all about.

"We found a cockroach under my bed," Adam explained, "and I squashed it!"

"Ew!" Alexa replied, "That’s gross."

"Not only are they gross and dirty," Mrs. Frump added, "They like to hide in clutter and underneath old pizza and sometimes in your bed. Cockroaches can be big triggers for anyone with allergies and asthma and you two are allergic to them."

"We’re allergic to bugs?" Alexa asked.

"Well, you’re not allergic to all bugs, but your doctor did say you guys ARE allergic to cockroaches," Mrs. Frump explained.

"I’m glad I’m not allergic to all bugs," Adam replied, "because I want to catch fireflies and lady bugs this summer!"

"From now on," Mrs. Frump said, "we are going to be roach-free. Adam, that means no more food in your room!"

Reprinted from Allergy & Asthma Health magazine, Summer 2000.