There is Always More Work to be Done

Did you see these over at Picnics in the Park? If not, head over there for a minute to find out where they came from. Done? OK. Let's go on.

One of my favorite preschool memories (yes, I remember preschool) is the wash tubs that were out in the play yard. At recess, there were always boys tearing around on the bikes, girls swinging around on the monkey bars and lots of kids playing in the sand pile. But I liked the wash tubs the best.

They were filled with water and soap and next to them was a pile of dolls and a pile of dishes. According to your preference, you could pick up whichever one you wanted to, and wash away. I liked washing the babies best. Soaping their hair and their little arms and legs made me feel like a real mommy. I am sure that is why I loved those spending my recess minutes at those wash tubs; I felt like I was dong something real.
I remembered that when I came home from an estate sale with a bin full of dirty baking tins. I remembered how good it makes my kids feel when I let them help me. I remembered that they like real work too.

So they got to it.
Even Lilly was in on it. See that soapy little hand?
Oh yes, they got all 3 tubs soapy, even though I showed them one was for washing, the next for rinsing and the 3rd for the extra rinse. It didn't really matter. What mattered was that they were being helpful. They were getting wet. They were having fun. They were doing real work!
They didn't finish all of them. (There are a lot!) But I had them set the ones they washed out in the sun, and I finished the rest while they had a cool drink. We are also learning how much better it is when we all help each other to finish a job.

When I was done, we looked at all the different tins and began to dream of the yummy treats we'll be baking in them soon.

Together, of course.