Cleaning Helper

Elise is a wonderful helper. She likes to be in the middle of whatever it is I am doing. She will play momentarily with things on her own, but when she sees me trying to do a project, or get something done, she jumps right in with her whole heart and soul. Although at times I am tempted to think, "this would be a lot easier if you didn't have to be in the MIDDLE." I know Elise loves me, and I love her tremendously too, and in those moments, I just have to remember she is curious, and is learning about her world, and doing so through our projects together.
The other day I was trying to cut the fabric for our quilt back (I've been working on a quilt for Logan for a couple years now). I have to put my large green cutting mat on the floor, and I usually barricade Elise in the living room, and put the mat in the hall. This is really awkward, as there isn't very much room in the hall, and she has learned to climb over the barricade. So the other day I put the mat in the living room. Elise sat down on the mat. I pulled out the rulers, and gave her one to hold, and a piece of fabric I didn't need right away. She didn't want the things I wasn't using right then, she wanted the things I was using. At first I got a bit frustrated, and kept trying to place her out of the way. As this repeatedly didn't work, I finally realized I needed to do as my mother did for us...creatively come up with a way to involve Elise so she could be my helper. I put the ruler on the fabric where I needed to cut, and started to hold it down, when Elise came and sat in the middle of it all, right in front of me. So, I moved her just a bit, put her hands on the ruler, and asked her to hold it down for me, showing her how to do it. Once I asked her to hold that ruler down, she held it down for all she was worth, and didn't let it budge. Even when I needed to move the ruler a bit, or change pieces of fabric, she kept holding that ruler down. She is the best ruler holder down I know, and is available if any of you need someone to hold down your ruler. She was so excited about helping, and although there were still some snags, it ended up being a positive experience we had together, rather than a frustrating one.

I am learning that even though projects may go smoother, and faster without a little helper, they are always fun with her help, an adventure, and allows us to spend some great time together, and gives us an added bond of helping one another.

So, it has become an interesting part of my life, figuring out ways to involve Elise in activities that don't normally feature the skills of a 1 year old, like the dishes, vacuuming, laundry, and this sort of thing. Little by little, we're working it out. She is learning about articles of clothing, so she can hand me a piece at a time out of the clothes basket so I can fold them. She is especially good with socks. Unfortunately she still messes up piles of clean folded clothes, but I think it is because she has so much fun helping, she doesn't want to stop just because the clothes are all folded. She keeps opening and closing the dryer door, and helping hand clothes to me, even when we are all done.
The dishes are a bit more challenging. She has a cupboard in the kitchen full of things she can play with like metal bowls and wooden spoons, and fun things. Usually she just plays with those while I hand wash the dishes and get the dishwasher full and ready to go. She has started trying to help fill the dishwasher, or wants to take the soapy dishes out, which is less than desirable. So, we started having her help unload. She is fabulous at handing me one fork or spoon at a time to put in the drawer. She is great at giving me her dishes one at a time to put in her cupboard, and after she has helped make the dishwasher empty of clean dishes, she has been content to continue playing with her toys while I load it with dirty, soapy dishes. Problem solved for now...
For vacuuming we've had a bit of a struggle. She loves the vacuum. She signs vacuum, and goes to the closet where we keep the vacuum. She helps me pick up all the toys off the floor in preparation for vacuuming, but once the thing is plugged in and actually vacuuming, she stands frozen in fear in one spot, looking at the loud vacuum in great concern. I told my mom about this, and she suggested looking for some toy version for Elise to have for herself. We went to the store, and while there are many high tech versions of child vacuums, with lots of features like singing alphabets and fun noises, the one that seemed like it would work well was the little corn popper toys, with the handle and the balls that pop as the wheels turn. We pulled it down, got Elise from the cart, and handed her the popper. She stood in the aisle, looking at us, and the thing in her hand. We showed her how to move it back and forth, and called it a vacuum. She still just stood there. Logan demonstrated the vacuuming action, and I kept signing vacuum, and telling her about what a great vacuum it was, and how it was just right for her. She finally got it. She happily went up and down the little aisle repeatedly, vacuuming up a storm. I complimented her on her great vacuuming, and she got a big grin on her face. We got some curious looks from other shoppers as we vacuumed in the toy aisle, but once we got the popper home, she has been vacuuming ever since. She is still great at helping get all the toys out of the way, and getting the big vacuum out, but she is no longer as scared of its noise, and loves using her own littler one!

I tell Logan all our little adventures in helping clean, and he kind of smiles. I assure him, Elise is a great helper, although I don't think he has completely realized what this all entails. The other day, Logan and I were wanting to make some Forgotten Kisses cookies. I turned on the oven, got the ingredients together, the mixer out, and got ready to start mixing, when my little helper came over. She, of course, wanted to help and be in the middle of things. So I picker her up with one arm, and kept adding ingredients to the mixer with the other hand. Logan thought it was worth capturing in a picture or two. I thought it was funny, because it is how our life is most of the time, but was glad to have this documented, so I can remind her how much she likes helping cook and clean when the time comes that she is a bit more resistant to helping.....

I guess my life has become more complicated, or at least completing everyday tasks has become complicated, but I must admit that it is way more exciting with a helper like Elise, and even though it seems like doing the laundry or the dishes take a really long time, I am glad I have Elise to share these activities with. I hope I can get a clip or picture of her with her vacuum soon, so you can all share the delight she has in helping. And in the meantime, if you need a helper, I know a girl with some great skills!!! Thanks for being my best helper Elise! Mommy loves you and all your help!!!! And thank you to my mom for helping me realize the important thing is spending time together as a family, not getting things done as quickly as possible!