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!