Company at My House!

After a late afternoon meeting on Friday, the weekend began with an overnight visit from my cousin Ella. What a treat! Ella is only four years old and instead of my usual reading all the weekly papers on Friday night, catching up on the local news, I spent Friday afternoon chasing down “Fancy Nancy” books, games, and stuff at Target. Then, there was a stop at the local grocery to get sprinkles and gummy worms to decorate cupcakes. So, to have a four-year old around brings the twenty questions and lots of laughter. Cupcakes are decorated…one swipe of icing on the cupcake and one for Ella’s tongue. Now, this is after eating goldfish crackers from Target to Madison! So, Dave gets home, ready to take his girls to dinner. Little Miss Independent orders her hamburger and milk with all the grace of an adult, but then we drum with the fork, color the coloring sheet Mr. Don brought to the table, and of course, the trip to the bathroom. I’m so excited about getting home…I have books to read and games to play. We start with the books, and at 8:15pm, both Dave and Ella are sound asleep. I watched 20/20 on tv. Geez! Bright eyed, at 6:15am, Ella’s first morning words, are “I’m hungry.” Breakfast preparation begins. Ella helps with everything…sets the table with plates, forks and napkins. She gets the butter and jelly out of refrigerator and takes to table. I say our blessing and Ella and Dave get into a biscuit-eating contest. What a hoot! Where does all that food go in such a tiny body!. For more entertainment, it’s a trip to the grocery store. Again, more help from Ella, taking items she could reach from the shelf and into the cart. Granted, the bread got slammed a few times, but she was so proud of helping.

So, with all this said, it’s never too early to start children with chores…trust me, it will come full cricle in the workforce. In the recent Forbes Magazine, it was noted that the average 6-to-12 year old spends 24 minutes a day doing cleaning, laundry, and other housework. That’s a 25% drop from 1981! I hope Ella will always want to help. Kudos to mom and dad for starting Ella early! Next time I need help, I’m calling Ella!