1/17/2006

Some kind of help is the kind of help that helping's all about...

Most days when my in-laws come to the house to watch my son, they take him out shopping. Sometimes, though, they stay at the house for the whole day. And my mother-in-law gets bored. So she may do some laundry or clean the dishes in the sink. Which is nice, since I don't have a lot of free time and having the housework done by someone else leaves me more time to do what I need or want to do. I don't want to be ungrateful... On the other hand, I realize that I am spending almost as much time compensating for what she does as I would spend doing the cleaning myself. I was going crazy trying to find DS1's track pants for his ice skating lesson, only to find them later in DD's dresser drawer. She also has most of his socks. But that's OK, because he's got her blue sweatpants (from her gym uniform) and her jean skirt is mixed in with his jeans. I removed all of the shirts from both of the boys' drawers and re-sorted them appropriately, since each of them has each other's stuff. I can't find the cheese grater or any of the snack cups that were in the dish drainer before she last did the dishes, and most of the stuff she put in the drainer needed to go in the dishwasher again anyway. DH just shakes his head and tells me that she means well, it makes her happy to feel like she's helping out. ..and some kind of help is the kind of help we all can do without.

posted by MamaKaren at 1/17/2006 11:04:00 AM

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I actually have an idea that might help...remember the dots on our socks? You could dot the tags in the clothes...one dot is DD, two dots DS1, that way when the clothes are handed down you just add a dot. But if MIL is paying so much attention that she put a skirt in the DS1's dresser, that might not work.

1/18/2006 5:36 PM  
Blogger MamaKaren said...

Dotting the tags would require her to pay attention to the tags. If she were to pay attention to the tags, she would realize that she was putting a size 4T pair of pants into her size 7/8 granddaughter's dresser.

I can sort of defend the skirt thing, but only because a folded denim skirt can easily be mistaken for jeans.

1/20/2006 11:32 AM  

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Who's Who

    Hubby- aka DH My husband since 1995. He is the head of the band department at a college prep school, and dabbles as a wanna-be pop star.

    The Princess- aka DD. Third grader at the local parochial school. Loves butterlies, sparkly things, the color purple and has recently developed a crush on one of the twins from "The Suite Life of Zach and Cody". Is ready for her teenage years, having already perfected her exasperated sigh and dramatic eye-roll.

    Hoss- aka DS1. Kindergartener and resident spirited child. His aunt likes to call him "the evil genius" because of his penchant for letting a lack of intellectual stimulation lead him into mischief. Likes trucks, sports, building things and burping. His current favorite word is "underwear."

    Lil Joe- aka DS2. Born in 2003. Doesn't say much we can understand, but has mastered the important stuff ("eat!", "Wash hands!", "Want chocolate ones!", "Hockey game!") Likes to push buttons, much to the consternation of whoever is trying to watch a DVD. Firmly refuses to use the potty, despite evidence that he is physically ready to be out of diapers, indicating a level of stubborn that eclipses even that of his parents and siblings.

    Me? I'm the Mama. That's all you need to know.

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