Helping Hands

We very much encourage our kids to help out as much as possible. If Jason and I are doing chores, they usually are too. It has definitely paid off in many ways. It would be easier to list the things they don't help with than the other way around. Of course there are the times where I am tempted to just do everything myself b/c I don't like shells in my eggs or the floor isn't exactly uncrunchy. But they do have to learn and they might as well learn that stuff here. I do expect some grateful children in-laws

The other day was one of those times where I never wanted to ask anyone to do anything ever again.

We got home from running errands and I asked the girls to unload the groceries from the car while I put Penny down for her nap. Jacob was asleep in his carseat and I just left the van door open and told the girls to get me if he woke up. It wasn't hot and I was planning on letting him nap with the van door open and checking on him every few minutes while I got the groceries put away, etc.

I came downstairs from getting Penny settled and asked Reese to let the dog out of his crate and put him out to potty. At this moment Paige suddenly remembered that she had left one more item out by the van. She leaves the front door wide open and Auggie, the dog, runs straight out the door.

Reese and Paige take off after him and I grab his leash and follow. We find him allllll the way at the end of the block where he has enthusiastically introduced himself to our neighbor. Our neighbor, Cory, is holding Auggie for me but is having a bit of a time as Auggie has no collar on (we don't leave his collar on him in his crate--strangulation risk...).

Auggie has been cooped up for hours and is positively radiating 10 month old, 65 pound golden retriever energy. I try to put his leash on, noose like, but it just isn't working so I have to walk him home by his scruff. After about three houses of walking like this my hand is aching from holding on him and my back feels like it will never recover. Auggie is just thrilled to see us. He doesn't care that I'm holding him by a fistful of neck skin, he is just glad that to be in physical contact with me.

We've almost made it to the house when I lose my shoe. Which causes me to lose the dog. Auggie bounds towards the house and I'm hoping he will just run to the door. Nope. He leaps into the van and sprawls out on his spot. Reese and Paige beat me to him and start to loudly wrestle him out of the car.
He is not going anywhere. He wants to go for a car ride. I have to absolutely drag him out of the car and he becomes a 65 pound dead weight (this is his passive aggressive move--it's not effective but he always hopes). I huff and puff and get him into the door and he romps off happily, panting and drooling with glee. I'm panting but I'm not very happy.

I know full well that I have left the biggest baby-waker in our family out in the van with sleeping Jacob. Sure enough, I dash back to the van and find her tickling his feet and him screaming bloody murder. I rescue him, resist the urge to cry, and we head into the house.

As I try to calm Jacob, down a glass of water, and look for the kid who was supposed to start putting hte groceries away but has drifted off to who knows where, it occurs to me that this was a whole lot of effort just to have these girls help bring in the groceries. I could have had this done in about ten minutes myself. And the baby would probably still be sleeping. And I sure wouldn't be drenched in sweat and struggling through a cramped hand from dragging the dog home.

 But then it occurs to me that this is the trade off for training kids: broken dishes, smudgy mirrors, sloppily folded towels, the toilet brush that vanished into thin air, broken dishwasher rack from someone yanking on it too hard, finish scrubbed off of kitchen table, shrunken sweaters, and floors that just don't quite sparkle.

And again this thought comes to mind: I hope my future children in-laws appreciate me :)