my new dishwasher

Yesterday a friend asked about life at our house and said, "Can Julianna help much?" To which I answered, "well, she does help me a lot in some ways, but she is just 3 1/2".

And there are ways in which she is a big help - like running to get an extra burp cloth for Isaac or entertaining Lydia. And some times she even realizes when I need help and initiates it on her own, like when she hears Isaac fussing and runs off to sing him a song or get him a new toy. Or when Lydia asks for something she can't reach... if Julianna can get to it, she'll help Lydia out.

But she is just 3 1/2. And there is a lot she can't do. But she's learning fast. Today she really washed dishes for the first time (as opposed to the hundreds of times she has stood at the sink and played in the water and called it 'washing dishes').

We had just finished playing with food coloring and water and medicine droppers - mixing and matching colors - and the plastic bowls needed to be washed out. I got her a soapy sponge and let her go to town. They are possibly the cleanest plastic bowls in our cabinets :)

When she was finished rinsing she insisted on loading them in the drying rack 'just like mommy'.... even though that meant many trips up and down the stool, getting the bowls out of the sink


and carrying them over to the dish rack.


I am now considering switching over to a completely plastic table-setting, so she can wash after every meal :)