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Friday, October 15, 2010

Can I get a little help around here??

Sometimes I wish I had a maid.
I often tell my Mom that I could be like those Amish women
who have 10 kids if I had a "maut" (PA Dutch for "maid") like they do....
being a maid as a young Amish girl is a given....it's something you do to help other women in your community, but mostly to learn the "tricks of the trade." Not a bad idea. It must not intimidate the young girls that much because they turn around, get married and have 10 kids themselves!!


My Mom remembers well being one and having one when she was a young Amish Mother. Granted, most Amish women have a much more *physical* job with huge gardens, doing laundry by hand, canning, helping with the farm, having lots of children in a short amount of time, etc. So they really do NEED the help in ways we "English" Moms might not. Actually, that same description applies to several of my friends and family that AREN'T Amish, so how about we English folks integrate some form of maid service? Hey, I can dream.



Well, I may not have a maid.
But I do have a 5 year old.
And a 3 year old.
And a 1 year old.

This is their *job*....

to take the dirty laundry from upstairs and throw it down the steps.
What 5 and 3 year old boys wouldn't LOVE this "job"??



Understandably, it turns into a sliding board.



And a swimming pool.


and a leaf pile.

oh, sweet imagination!!!





Next, they take it from the steps and throw it into the laundry room.


Finally, it's gathered into a pile and I take it from there.

Thanks for your help kids....
I'll take all I can get!!!


"Any kid will run any errand for you
if you ask at bedtime
."
~Red Skelton~


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

seriously. a dream. mine too. then just imagine 2 parents that work fulltime.

Jena said...

this summer I had my 6,5 and almost 4 year old learn to clean their own bathroom...
I was AMAZED by how quickly they learned their own jobs(they break it down into 3 parts) and how WELL they do... now granted, I check it and often need to redo some parts, but for the most part they do a really great job, and they learn responsibility to boot!
holla.

melissa hoffman said...

Ha ha, I too threw the laundry down the stairs in my most pregnant days!

And how much do I love the little cupboard in your laundry room?

Have a wonderful weekend...we're off to the pumpkin patch...and it's just not the same as Lancaster County...

Terri said...

ha! You may like that it takes a long time to take the laundry down piece by piece...in which case, the next comment means nothing to you. BUT...if you made them put the laundry in a basket, riding down IN it AND the clothes would make a really great sled...but it would be a really fast process and then you would need to come up with something else to entertain them. So it might not work. Putting wheels on the basket would be an interesting twist!

Terri said...

Also...close call with the laptop teetering on the end of the table. Skill, your kids have laundry skill!

The lady of the house... said...

Emily~I don't know how you do it! YOU are amazing!!

Jena~my children may or may not thank you for your inspiration!

Melissa~I think of you so often...if walls could speak. Dawn's house sold. It's being fixed up for resale. I will miss picking her hydrangeas.

Terri~remind me to NOT ask you to babysit on laundry day!! :)

fleurcottage said...

a 'chuckler!' :)