"I'm doing responsibilities"

Abby came up to me this afternoon and said, "Mommy, I'm doing responsibilities.  I cleaned my room, and I'm picking up toys.  Do you have responsibilities for me to do?"

Seriously. She's three-and-a-half.

And sure enough, she had picked up her room, and put her toys away.  Her folded clothes were in their drawers.  At a loss for what to give her, I handed her a jump rope I had picked up while decluttering a few minutes before and suggested she could try it out.  "No, Mommy, this is my time for responsibilities.  I can help you clean."  Okay!  So...I showed her how to take Joshua's laundry from his room and load the washing machine.  She brought in the laundry from her room as well, and I showed her how to start a wash cycle.  She helped with trash and put a few more things away before going off to play with Joshua.

Abby has always had a desire to be helpful.  She's eager to help me fold clothes, carefully puts them away, and loves to help in the kitchen.  In fact, when we stayed in a rental house in San Antonio this spring, my parents discovered after we'd left that Abby had opened a chest of drawers I didn't even know she had used and had carefully put away some of her clothes!  They had to mail us the dress and shoes we'd almost left behind thanks to Abby's attentiveness!

This is from an evening when Abby helped me with dinner by cutting up the bell peppers (with a butter knife).  She carefully showed me exactly how big she was cutting the pieces :)

I love having her company as I'm working, and I look forward to working alongside her for years to come.

A few more summer photos of Abby:

Puzzle complete!

Nature study.  Drawing bugs in the front yard.

Playing her home-made "string instrument" of rubber bands on clothing hangers :)