Helpful Hearts

Young children love to be helpful.  As a busy mom I am often running around the house being productive wherever I can.  Throw a load of laundry in, put the dishes in the dishwasher, pick-up a handful of the kids' shoes/toy/clothes in the dining room to drop off in their rooms on my way to the bathroom, wipe down the sink and toilet while I'm there, pick up the garbage to take out then back inside the house. Rinse and repeat.  Now if all of that gets done without one, if not five, interruptions from the kids then a true miracle for mommies has occurred. :)

Frequently we mommies are in a hurry to get everything done (or maybe it's just me) so when those little eyes look up at us expectantly and say, "Mommy can I help?" it's tempting to say, "Not right now," knowing their "helping" hands will slow us down, probably make a much bigger mess for us to clean up later and quite possibly alter the intended outcome of whatever it is you're working on.  However, I encourage you to resist that urge to turn down their help and instead accept it, encouraging their helpful hearts and teaching them valuable life skills that will lead them toward becoming responsible members of society.  Yes accepting their help may mean doing the job over again yourself or having to add "mopping" to your never-ending "to do" list, but I guarantee you the huge smile you will see on their face and sense of pride and accomplishment will be well worth the extra effort.

I don't claim to be that fantastic mom who always encourages the help.  In fact, I'd probably rate myself near more 50/50 on how frequently I accept their help and wish I could tell you differently.  Tonight though I was making meatballs (my husband's favorite) and while Daddy and Em were playing a game together, McGee was excited to help me with the meatballs.  He has always shown such an eagerness to help in the kitchen and I'm hoping that means he takes after his father with mad cooking skills and a passion for creating delectable meals. 

McGee actually decided to teach me a thing or two about forming meatballs.  McGee: "See, when you squish it all together it makes it get bigger and make a better round ball when you roll it.  See mom, do it like this..."

After we put the meatballs in the oven I pulled out a laundry basket full of Miss Em's clean clothes to fold and Miss Em came walking into the dining room asking, "Mommy can I help?"  I said, "Sure," and attempted to teach her how to pull her shirt right side out and fold her clothes and towels.  Like I mentioned above, more work was created when she filled a bag full of clean and already folded towels from the cupboard and brought them out for us to fold, but the proud face she brought with her was so worth the extra folding. :)

 See that proud smile??? (taken w/ my new P&S that will be going back to Costco soon, just not loving it)

Mommy's Laundry Helper