Laundry: Our New Favorite Chore

I really like the idea of involving Nathan in my daily chores, mostly because that means they're easier for me to get done with he's awake and I'm not spending my valuable nap/evening time doing them.  But I guess its also good so that he knows that helping around the house is expected of him as he gets older.

We've started folding laundry together on the master bed within the past week, and it's been going really well.  And by "really well", I mean that Nathan is entertained and sometimes "helps" me by unfolding what I just folded.  Nathan especially likes trying to put any sock that's within his reach (right now he calls socks "shoes", but we're working on that).  He's been trying hard to figure out how to hold the one end open and then maneuver his foot into said opening, but its harder then it appears.  Even with the extra -large socks of mine or Daddy's that he snags from the laundry. 

But, like sweeping, Nathan's love of this chore can be a two-edged sword. The other night after dinner, Gran and Nathan went to the basement to play while I cleaned up the kitchen and worked a little on my bible study lesson. About 20 minutes before bedtime, I went downstairs to collect Nathan and realized that I had a load of laundry ready to take out of the dryer. Nathan was super excited about the laundry and as soon as we got to the top of the stairs, he headed straight to the my room and stretched up onto his tippy-toes as he tried to climb onto the bed. I picked him up and tossed him onto the bed (I learned that from Daddy), and dumped the laundry on top of him. Working quickly, as bedtime was fast approaching, I folded all the towels and a couple of shirts and then I told him that we were done and it was time to get ready for bed.  Apparently, he wanted to do some more laundry and threw a small temper tantrum as I took him to his room.  But I guess there could be worse things for him to get upset about!