Help or Hinder?

One of the frustrating things about motherhood is that very small children can make it hard to do tasks that were a piece of cake when I was childless. Take folding laundry, for instance. In my pre-child days I didn't like doing it; I procrastinated terribly; but once I got around to it, it was easy.

Until I had a child who was big enough to grab the laundry off the coffee table or couch and undo everything I'd just done.

For many months, folding laundry was a source of unending frustration for me. Then Chickie got to the point that she mostly ignored what I was doing, and thankfully Zoodle has never been that interested in Daddy's freshly-folded T-shirts, so this boring task became manageable again.

And now...this is really cool, folks...Chickie, who used to hinder me in my laundry-folding efforts, has become a helper. Last week as I was trying to get through a full basket of clean laundry, Chickie was eager to assist. And it became a little game--I'd fold something, give it to her, and she'd figure out what pile it went in, whether it was one of her shirts, in the nearby pile...



...or a pair of Daddy's socks, which belonged on the far side of the table.



Involving Chickie in my chores is something I haven't generally wanted to do in the past, since her "helping" tended to make tasks take longer. Finally, though, she is at an age when sometimes she genuinely helps--no quotation marks required. (She's gotten good at sorting utensils when I'm unloading the dishwasher, too.)

These bits of independence are so encouraging to me. I imagine in just a few more years, if I can keep the school district from finding out I have a kindergarten-aged child, I'll be able to put her to work full time doing cooking, cleaning, and childcare. It's about time I get down to the serious business of eating bon bons and watching soaps all day.