“I’ll do it”

I really appreciate the fact that V is enthusiastic to do things by herself. “I’ll do it” is probably the phrase I hear the most throughout the day.

She wants to do everything herself from the morning she gets up to get dressed. She can do her own socks, her own pants, her own shoes. I have to help with the shirts but she’s getting better with that.

She even wants to go to the bathroom by herself, telling me to, “Stay there” wherever I happen to be in the house.

In the kitchen, she wants to mix whatever I’m making in a bowl, she wants to add the ingredients in one at a time, she wants to sprinkle in the cinnamon or spices. She also wants to kneed my dough and roll it out. There’s no way she’ll stand by and just watch if she can help it.

I love it that she wants to do so much, and I know she’s going to be a better helper the older she gets, but still, there are times when I’m on a tight time schedule and need to do things quickly. What do I give her to do? Another of her favorite past times: cleaning! If I give her an old tooth brush, a little bit of liquid soap on the counter and a wet cloth, she’ll get to work scrubbing the grout and tiles that is our counter. She enjoys that, and well, it helps me keep her busy and productive.