Underestimating

Emily never ceases to amaze me! She gets pretty grumpy around dinner time, since her bedtime is at 7:00. The other night, in desperation for a few minutes to finish the salad, I asked her to put the salad dressing on the table. When they made it safely to the table, she returned. Having successfully distracted her, I reached for something else to ask her to put on the table (there is a reason we got Corelle.) I gave her two plates, stacked on top of each other, thinking the two stacked plates would be shoved onto the table, still stacked. Nope. Silly Mommy. She put one on to the left of her booster seat, and the other to the right. Hmm. . . she did the same thing with the forks and butter knives. The napkins all ended up at her seat, but that is probably where they were most needed anyway. :) It was by no means a perfect presentation, but it was a lot more than I had in mind when I handed Emily the plates. It was a real reminder to me not to underestimate her ability to help out. And not to do everything myself because it is easier and quicker. If I invest the time in training now, she will be my big girl helper sooner than I dared to hope. Or perhaps I am really the one who needs the training-to change my thinking and to not always take the easiest and quickest way.