Kitchen Helper

We found a new way for Elise to help in the kitchen. She helps take the dishes out of the dishwasher, but this last week, I set her up on a chair to help wash/rinse the dishes. She was in the corner, so she was surrounded on three sides, and I was on the fourth. I put less than an inch in one side of the sink, and gave her one of her bowls to 'wash' with a wet wipe to use as a dish rag, while I washed the rest of the dishes in the other side of the sink. She loved it. She was so excited to be helping. Although she dumped a bit of water on the chair, and got distracted by the water, she did really well. She decided the water in the sink was more exciting than the bowl or the rag, so she put them on the counter and just splashed in the water for a while. Once we were finished with all the other dishes, I helped her put her clean bowl into the dishwasher to be washed. She did so happily, until I closed the dishwasher and started it. She was devastated that she couldn't have her bowl back. Then she got back up on her chair and used a paper towel to clean up the water on the counter, while I wiped down the rest of the counter with Clorox wipes. She was such a good helper. She wiped the microwave, and then got down and did the front of the dishwasher, the oven, and even the refridgerator. She is great at helping wipe off the down low parts. She even did the table legs! It is nice that she is getting to the point where she can be such a great helper.

She also discovered the broom and dust pan. She has been 'sweeping' the kitchen floor every day for me. She uses it like most people use a vacuum, and is so cute about letting me take turns with her. I got a great video, but my camera deleted it, so we'll have to try for another time. Here are some pictures of her sweeping the kitchen floor: