Monday, July 12, 2010

Little Helping Hands

When I was a new mama, my hands always seemed to be full trying to take care of the new baby, the house and the husband all at the same time. Makes me wanna say "Ufda," as my Norwegian ancestors would say. I was nursing, cleaning, cooking, sewing, changing diapers, doing laundry, snuggling and the list  can go on.

You adapt and you learn how to do things with a little one under foot. I've learned that there's no point in picking up the toys off the floor 5 times a day because they'll just be back on the floor again for a 6th time. Or that its pointless to vacuum the living room every time something falls on the floor. It was more work than what was needed. I've learned to save cleaning time for when she goes down for a nap and when she goes down at night. It'll last a lot longer then, trust me.

Now that our little Hazel Peach (her nickname) has turned two this weekend, I couldn't help but sit back and think of how her little hands have become little helping hands lately. She loves to help whenever she get the chance.

  • She helps "wash" dishes, I use this term  loosely because she really only helps so that she can play in the bubbles.
  • She helps me vacuum.
  • She likes to pull the vacuum cord out of the wall all the time shouting,  "PULL, PULL."
  • She really like to help Grammie feed the chickens and collect eggs.
  • She picks up her toys for me.
  • She likes to work with tools to help mama and daddy fix things around the house.
  • She hands me one piece of laundry at a time out of the basket when we're folding laundry.
All of these things could be done quicker and better if she wasn't helping, but patience is another thing you lean when you become a parent. She wants to be involved and learn how to do things, and who am I to turn her down just because I want to go a little quicker? Her smiles and giggles are worth all the extra time and work.

"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do." ~Edward Everett Hale

2 comments:

Gumbo Lily said...

Excellent post!
You are wise to realize that it is important for Littles to learn how to be helpful. They like being a part of our world....even if it would be easier if we did it all ourselves.

Good lessons learned will produce fruit as the years go by.

Jody (grammie)

Cheyenne said...

I read this post the other day...and thought of it yesterday when I looked out across my living room when my babe was down for a nap. There were children's books everywhere, dominoes spilled all over and a wooden spoon or two in the mix of it all. I usually clean it all up at every nap, but this time I left it until she got up...cause she set back to playing with it again anyway. I appreciated every word you wrote here. It was an encouragement.