Everything but the Kitchen Sink
Okay, so here’s what happened. The kids are getting older, so we decided that it was a good time to start giving them daily chores. When Adam and I were kids we each had a list of things to do, so we came up with some easy ones, like pick up your toys, make your bed, put your dishes away and give the cat food and water. Nothing too difficult, just simple tasks to give them a sense of responsibility.
It was around this time that we started to notice our dishes and silverware were inexplicably disappearing. One night as Adam and I were cleaning the kitchen, he looked over and said, "Is it me or do we have less plates, cups, spoons…? Come to think of it, less of EVERYTHING!” We began to search the house, but found nothing. Where was it going?
We pulled all four kids together and asked what they knew about it. “Okaaaay, Guys. Spoons and forks can’t just get up and walk away. What’s happening to it all?”
-Crickets-
Their little faces looked up at us with complete confusion. Not one of them had any idea of what we were talking about.
The next night, we decided to change things up a bit. Instead of going straight from the table to the kitchen to start cleaning after dinner, Adam and I sat and watched the kids to see what happened.
“Okay guys, let’s take dishes to the sink!” One by one, they got up and put their spoons, forks, cups, bowls – everything – on top of their plates. It was actually cute to watch all four of them carefully balance their pile, as they walked like ducks in a row to the kitchen.
Christian carefully put his dishes in the sink and walked away. Ethan put his pile in, but kept the spoon so he could jump back and toss it in shouting, “He shoots, HE SCORES!!!” Little Preston lifted his heavy load and barely made it over the side of the sink. And then came Lauren Elizabeth…
She followed the boys to a point, but then turned and went another way. “What is she doing?” I whispered to Adam. “I don’t know, but we’re about to find out.”
She walked her little three year-old self right to the trash can, and with the whole pile in her hands, dumped it in.
“Lauren! Why did you do that?!” I exclaimed.
As we both said in shock, she shrugged her tiny shoulders at us and said, “I’m frowing dem in da sink!”
We dug everything out, and explained how she HAD to put them in the actual kitchen sink. “That one is too big up,” she said.
Oooooof course it is.
It’s hard to tell just how much she has put in ‘the sink,’ and we probably don’t even really want to know. At least we learned before it’s too late that one of her chores shouldn’t be to take care of the cat. With our luck, she would decide to give the poor cat a bubble bath in her ‘sink’ after dinner. (Meow)
Bea lives in North Carolina with her husband Adam and children Christian (8), Ethan (7), Preston (4) and Lauren Elizabeth (3). Read more amazing stories by Bea at Peanut Butter Hair.
