False? Accusations

One of the joys of being a parent is watching your children learn.  Recently I have enjoyed watching Little Man learn to talk and communicate his own ideas.  Sometimes those ideas make me chuckle inside (and sometimes out loud). 

Often in his talking, he shows that he is grasping other concepts we are trying to teach---like our taking away things that he is being too rough with.  However, apparently, he also thinks we take away things without giving him warnings first.

One of Little Man's favorite toys is a rocking horse.  While he is riding, he likes to be a cowboy with his horsy hat. The other day, I couldn't find his horsy hat when he asked for it.  I asked him "Where is your horsy hat?"  His rather decided reply was, "Dad take away Babe's hat!"

I couldn't think of any reason that Jake might have taken away Little Man's hat, but I also couldn't find the hat.  So when Jake came home from work, I asked him about it.  He told me he couldn't think of a reason Little Man would accuse him of such a thing.

Apparently, Little Man also remembered thinking that Dad had taken away his hat when Jake came home.  While Jake was changing him, Little Man told Jake, "Dad take away Babe's hat!"  We got a chuckle out of the fact that the longest sentence we can remember Little Man saying was making accusations about Daddy.

A few minutes later, Jake came down the hall carrying the hat proclaiming he had been falsely accused.

I teased him back that since he had produced the hat, it was closer to evidence that Little Man's accusations had been true.  But Little Man had his hat back and happily went off to ride the horsy again.

Shortly thereafter, we took a car ride in which Little Man was still wearing his beloved horsy hat.  Unfortunately, it must have interfered with his view and he took it off in the car. And sadly, the hat got left in Dad's car when Little Man got out.

The following day while Jake was at work, Little Man wanted to ride his rocking horse and wear his horsy hat. But since the hat was in Jake's car, he couldn't wear it.  Little Man told me again "Dad take away Babe's hat!" And this time he was correct--even if Dad had done it accidentally ;)

'Cross the River

Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go.....

Or more accurately, Over the river and into the woods to the middle of no-where we go....

This past weekend was the annual Hathaway family Joe's Valley Camp Out.   This event is much anticipated by Jake, and semi-dreaded by me.  You see, the Hathaway's grew up camping in a much different fashion than I did.

As a little girl, I camped in a trailer house where we could avoid rain, always had warm beds, often cooked in the trailer, and frequently Mom would bring a portable toilet...(Thanks Mom since I have now realized how disgusting cleaning that thing out actually is!)

When I was a little older, my grandpa built a boughrey (pavilion) at "The Pond" and for the past 10 or so years, the majority of my camping trips have been to "The Pond" where we have a boughrey to protect us from sun and rain, a kitchen (which consists of several camp chef stoves, counter tops, microwaves, and even an oven), running water, and flushing toilets.  All of this gets surrounded by camp trailers, some of which could be considered portable houses, with nearly all of those same conveniences--In fact, one of my aunts did live in her trailer for several WINTER months when her husband took a new job in a different state.

Some people, including Jake, do not consider this "camping".

Jake grew up camping in tents--risking rain,freezing temperatures, and creepy crawlies to sleep under the stars.  Much of their cooking was done over the fire. They would drive hundreds (okay dozens) of miles to escape any semblance of civilization and get back to nature.  Hiking is one of their favorite pass times....regardless of the terrain.  In fact, they have renamed one of the mountains near their campsite "7 year mountain" because it took them 7 years of hiking it to find a route to the top.

Needless to say, their favorite campsite doesn't have any of the "modern" camping conveniences like easy-to-cook-over fire pits, running water, or civilized bathrooms.  You have only what you bring and what you find in nature.

That kind of camping is all well and good--if you like that kind of thing.  But in my mind that is definitely"roughing it" even in a good year.  But this year I have a still-in-diapers toddler who loves to play in the water and their favorite campsite is right next to a river.  And to top it all off, I happen to be 6 months pregnant, and the thought of frequent (especially middle of the night) nature walks to take care of business just did not sound like fun.

But Jake loves it, and I love Jake....so I went.

And like most things I don't want to do, the anxiety about it was much worse than the actual event.

One reason for this is that Joe's Valley really is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  Even though we went in August, everything looked so green.  The campsite is surrounded by mountains, the river provides a soothing background noise, and the view of the near by canyon is incredible.

Additionally, Jake does everything he can to make my stay there comfortable.  We took an inflatable mattress and plenty of blankets to make the night cozy.  Though we did have to cook over the fire because we haven't acquired camping stoves yet, Jake did pretty much all of the cooking---and dish washing!! We brought a canopy to protect the "kitchen" and provide shade or protection from rain if need be.  And we brought lots of treats to snack on.

But perhaps the best part of being up there is the escape from everyday life and its distractions/responsibilities.  At home, there are always a hundred things that "need" to be done (dishes, laundry, cleaning, working, checking Facebook, shopping, calling so-and-so, etc.)  But up there, many of those things simply can not be done, so there is no need to think about them.  It was also a good opportunity to watch my Little Man enjoying some of life's simple pleasures....and be reminded to enjoy some of them myself.  His favorite activity of the trip was to throw rocks into the river.  It seemed no matter how long he had done it, it was still fun to him.  He and his cousins turned a rocky shore into a sandy beach in the 2 days we were there.  Little Man also enjoyed climbing a few small hills and a giant rock, sliding down a dirt formation, playing in a semi-natural tree hut, and going with Daddy "'Cross the river" to explore the woods on the other side.

So though I may not fully enjoy "roughing it," I am grateful for the opportunity to escape.  Even though I woke up to spiders in my bed both mornings.

Discovering the River

Choosing the perfect rock

Climbing the hills

Playing games with Grandma and cousins

Hanging out with the Auntie and Uncle

Chilling with a cousin

Helping set up the beds and the tent

Rocking the tree hut

SNACKING!

Going down the slide

Little Helper

OR Only  half twice as long

Tonight, Jake and I were folding laundry.  Since I don't really like to do laundry, let alone fold it when it is dry......  There was quite the pile to take care of.  Typically, we fold laundry on the bed.  Which causes some minor problems since jumping on the bed is one of Little Man's favorite activities.  Today was no exception, though he is getting better about not destroying the folded piles we have scattered all over the bed.

Rather than just lock the Little Man out of the room, Jake and I try to let him stay as long as the work of folding the laundry isn't hindered TOOOOO much.  Usually he has several warnings that jumping on the laundry or pulling it off the bed will result in being evicted from the room (a punishment almost unbearable to the little guy).  Usually, by the time we have finished folding all the laundry, Little Man has been locked out at least once--a difficult punishment to enforce since he is constantly telling us "Help" "Help".

You see, Little Man loves to ""help" mommy and daddy.  Even the most tedious of chores to me seems to entertain him.  It seems that no matter what chores I feel I "have to do,"  Little Man is there eager to help out.  Lots of times I have even discovered him doing the chores for me  while I have been busy with something else (like showering--where discovery of his acts of service will surely not be discovered until later).

I try to remind myself that he really does need to learn these skills, and that even though it takes me twice as long to accomplish my chores now (or to clean up after one of his attempts at service), one day it will pay off because he will have learned to do these things for himself.  I am constantly reminded of some counsel I read once that said something along the lines of "Children should be allowed to help when they are little, encouraged to help when they grow up a little, and perhaps forced to help when they are teenagers." 

Still as discouraging as it may be to discover that mopping the bathroom floor has just been moved to the top of the priority list......I love my Little Man!!!!  And, hopefully, allowing the chores to take twice as long now, will mean I can "share" some of them with him later so it really will mean only half the work for me later.

Here are some pictures of some of Little Man's favorite chores.

Scrubbing the toilet....usually this is one of those "acts of service" done while Mommy is in the shower.---Did you know that if you angle it just right, you can actually store the scrub brush IN the toilet?  Now you you do :)

Helping Daddy!  No matter what tool Daddy has, Little Man wants to learn how to use it!

Doing Laundry!  "Got it all out Mommy!

Sweeping the kitchen floor...no crumbs in this kitchen ;)

Washing the dishes.......and sharing the bubbles with the plants near the sink.

Gardening???  "I know this gets rid of unwanted crap, Mom"

Cooking....I don't think the beaters worked well enough, I'll put some elbow grease to it Mom.

And of course, we can't leave dirty dishes laying around ;)  I think this is going to be a great batch!