Friday, January 18, 2008

Our Little Helper

I've noticed that I often write about the trouble Madigan gets herself into. I think that's because those stories tend to be funny and well... there seems to be an abundant supply to choose from. But, Madigan is also quite a little helper and I've been very impressed with some of the things she's done in the last few days. So, I thought I would redeem myself a little and write about that today.

1) Madigan now "sets" the table for us. This actually started as a way for me to get supper cooked without her hanging on my leg but has turned into a fun game for us both. I hand her one plate/cup/utensil at a time and say "put this on the table". She walks over, puts it on the table (or sometimes the chair - I'm not picky) and then turns around, claps and says "yea!!!" This continues until the table is set or dinner is done. Very cute and pretty helpful as well.All done, Mom...Yea!!2) A few days ago, I changed Madigan's diaper (just a wet one) in the living room and set it to the side (because I was being lazy and didn't want to get up). Madigan walked right over and picked it up and headed out of the room. I laughed and said, "Are you going to throw that away?". Ted and I then joked about all of the places that diaper could potentially show up and about 30 seconds later she came back in the room... without the diaper. So, I got up to see what she had done and finally found the diaper... in the kitchen trashcan...with the lid back down. I didn't even know she knew how to lift the lid to the trashcan. (which also makes me wonder what else she's put in there...)3) Also in an effort to keep her busy while I cook (can you tell this has been a problem?), I started letting her "cook" with me. She'll sit on the cabinet or stand in a chair beside me and do whatever I'm doing with her own bowl and spoon. One day I made something with eggs and gave her the egg shells in her bowl. She did a great job "beating" the eggs. :) We also made rice krispie treats one day, but I had a hard time convincing her that they needed to cool in the pan and not in her mouth.4) She's gotten very good a picking up her toys now that we've simplified the process with the tubs/baskets. One day she even picked up the toys, I picked up the tub, and she pulled out her toy vacuum and "vacuumed" where the toys had been. I'm not sure where she got that idea - Mommy and Daddy sure don't do that. :)So at this point, Ted and I are trying to decide which chores we can hand over to her. At what point can a kid start mowing the lawn... ?

2 comments:

Kelly said...

Keynan and Madigan really are two peas in a pod. He bothers me at supper time, too. He helps me unload the dishwasher. I'll have to try the table setting thing. He has been into throwing things in the trash for a while, too. In fact, he did throw away one of his shoes one time, so you have to be careful. You also have to be careful that she doesn't reverse the process and start bringing things to you from the trash. We once caught Keynan eating an entire pop tart - from the trash. We felt like great parents that day. Love the post!

Stephanie said...

Hey Bowsmans! Just discovered your blog and I thought we'd say hello! Madigan is adorable and looks so much like Ted! Please come by and "visit" our blog!

The Schwieters