Monday, July 12, 2010

A Parenting First


I possibly should have named her Trouble. She's just too cute for her britches, that one.

Lulu will be 18 months old next week. She has already shown a predisposition to noting things that are out of place, unlike either of my previous darling children. She will gasp and point at anything on the floor, and shout at it until you pick it up. This includes the times when Rooster falls out of bed during the night and continues sleeping on the floor.

She loves to put toys in a basket, or laundry in the dryer. She rearranges the dishes in the dishwasher as I am loading it. She comes to get me whenever the big kids are fighting with one another.

When I bring a cloth to the high chair, she smiles and holds out first one hand, then the other for cleaning. She gasps and points at her bowl that has fallen to the floor, then the puddle of milk leaking out of it. Uh-oh!

I confess, I do not know what to do with this child of tidiness and order.

This morning I got the pleasure of another parenting first. In eight years of diapering, I had yet to experience this one.

Lulu had been unusually fussy and needy all morning. That's not saying much, because her fussing is very manageable. But finally in exasperation I said to her, Do you need a fresh diaper? and checked her. I decided that wasn't the problem and turned away for a moment.

Next thing I knew, she approached me dragging a bag of new diapers. I took it from her and pulled one out of the bag. She smiled and giggled (always the sign that I finally understood what she wanted) and laid down on the floor for me to change her. Sure enough, that diaper was wetter than I had thought.

When I was finished, I pulled her skirt back on and stood her up. She picked up the old diaper (I always roll them into tight little bundles), carried it to the trash can, put it in and closed the lid. She then came back, dragged the package of diapers back to the box, pointed and shouted at them until I put the package back in the box.

I kid you not.

I was thrilled at the appearance of the Cleaning Fairy, but she and I both still struggle with keeping up with the messes we make. I'm starting to think the Whip Cracker has arrived on the scene. Maybe there is hope for this household yet.

3 comments:

  1. I can't tell you how jealous I am. I want one of THOSE kinds of kids. I'm sure I was something like that when I was little... but boy, my girls certainly do not take after me in that department.

    Count that blessing TWICE!

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  2. o yes! this is awesome. i wish i were there to see it (:

    lia likes putting things away too, but she first dumps them out.

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  3. Too, too funny. They do say the youngest child fills in the gaps! I love your dry sense of humor in how you communicate.

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