Helping

I blame my husband.

It started this morning, when he left for work. As he hovered in the living room in his coat, waiting for the car to warm up, my daughter innocently informed him that she, too, wanted to go to work.

He told her that she could not go.

"I go to work, Daddy...I get money."

"No Sweetie, you can't go to work. They aren't hiring where I work right now."

"But I don't have money...I go to work with you."

"But you need to work at home...Mommy needs help picking up laundry...helping with the babies...cleaning your room...you need to stay here. Maybe we could pay you to help out at home."

That seemed to placate her for the moment. He did not realize what he had done.

It started with feeding the twins.

"I help you, Mommy? I feed Owen."

After many attempts to distract her from this form of help...I finally gave up and gave her Owen's food in a plastic bowl, while I settled into feeding Connor.

"Uuuuuh-mmmmm....yes, Owen...you eating big boy food. Uuuuuuh-mmmmm....oh Owen, you getting messy...I clean you. Just a minute. Stay right there....shhhhh...."

She skips off down the hall, and I look over at Owen...wearing most of his oatmeal. He stares at me with wide eyes, and pushes the bib to his mouth to lick up some of his breakfast. Irelynn comes back with a washcloth.

After breakfast was over (and I made sure Owen got some food in him,) it was time to attempt the laundry...with help. Which meant folding...and refolding, several articles of clothing, and finding all the socks she had bunched up and stuffed into various orifices of the couch. She grabbed a pillowcase and held it up to me.

"Where this go?"

"Just set it in Mommy and Daddy's room...on the bed."

"Okay!"

After a couple of minutes had passed, I begin to wonder what is taking her so long. I sigh, wondering if she went into the babies' room and had woken them up. I walk down the hall and peek into my bedroom to see her unfolding the pillowcase. My bed was completely torn apart, stripped down to the mattress, the covers lying in a heap on the floor. My jaw dropped...my...my sanctuary...I blinked and quickly recovered.

"Irelynn...what are you doing?!"

"I put this on bed...I making it for you." She was attempting to stretch the pillowcase to make it fit over the bed. I calmly informed her that I needed her help elsewhere.

As I tried to remake my bed I heard the water turn on in the kitchen.

((sigh))

I walk out to see her at the sink, with the dishwasher open. She was standing on the door to the dishwasher, clanging dishes together in the sink.

"I washing dishes, Mommy."

I pulled her down and told her I had a very important job for her. I led her out to the living room, and gave her a pack of Pull-Ups. I told her I needed her to put all the Pull-Ups into the drawer in neat stacks.

She is currently working on this task as I make lunch. Promptly after lunch I will put my little worker down for a nap. Wait...no...she is finished. She has a hot pad on one hand and is dragging a chair into the kitchen to help with lunch. Great.

I think tomorrow I will send her to work with her father and let her help him for the day. I'll pay her to go.