Hello Everyone.
Editor's Note: Having written over 350 stories we thought we needed a little sabbatical. So, until the early March, we will be in re-runs. Please enjoy these previously published Neva tales from not so long ago.
Originally Published: June 22, 2001
Toddlers love to help. They love to do things like Mommy and Daddy. Our 21-month-old daughter, Neva, is a no different and will proudly announce when she is helping. Typical of how Neva likes to help, as you heard in Wednesday's story, is when she cleaned the TV screen with a bar of Sunlight soap.
She will "help" dry the dishes and then throw them back in the sink full of water.
She "helps" Daddy clean the patio furniture by washing and rinsing it over and over with a cloth and the water from her pool.
She will "help" pick strawberries on the balcony and pop them straight into her mouth instead of into the bowl.
She'll "help" stir the muffin batter, not-so-carefully spooning it on to the counter and back into the measuring cups.
She "helps" me in the kitchen, getting a small dish for her snack, by happily pulling all the plastic ware out of the cupboard and throwing it on the floor until she's found just the right one.
She even, on her own initiative, got her broom and dust pan to clean up the dirt she had spilled from the plant she had been digging in. Then, again on her own initiative, and obviously pleased with my praising her good helping, dug more dirt out and spread it around the dining room so she'd have more to "help" sweep up.
Help or hinder? Doesn't matter. I'm guessing she won't be so eager when she turns ten. So for now, I'll just watch and smile knowing she knows she's Mommy's good helper.
Happy sweeping,
Kathleen Gunther
Editor, ContestHound.com
