Taylor wears a pink party dress with a crinoline lining, a petticoat, a turquoise colored t-shirt that has a butterfly on it, and a crazy-quilted apron of red and yellow fabrics. She sports a diadem on her head, also turquoise, that has beads that shape flowers along the line. She faces away from me, so it looks like she’s wearing a pink skirt with a turquoise shirt.
She is barefooted, standing on a chair in front of the sink, with the back of the chair toward the sink. Turning the water on and off, adding a little bit of dish soap to the sponge, and wiping the food off our dishes and silverware with care, she cleans everything in the sink. She places the plates against the backsplash, the silverware in their container, and the cups and mixing bowls on the towel on the counter to dry.
One morning after we came back from the boys’ swim lesson, she asked permission to wash dishes, and I said, Yes. I reckoned that I would have to wash them again, but she did a good job. Later that week, she was washing dishes after lunch while Dad and I were sitting close to each other. He was a bit surprised by it and quietly asked if that was a good idea. I said, “Oh, let her. It’s good for her confidence.” She has since then dragged her chair to the sink, donned her apron, and gotten her hands wet to wash the dishes. Sometimes she asks permission, which I never negate. Sometimes she just does it without asking. I don’t mind that at all because I like the help.
When she has a hard time getting the food off, either Dad or I will show her how to use her fingers or the sponge to do the job. She hasn’t broken anything — yet, but we don’t have items that would break from falling a few inches such as thin glass. She stays away from sharps and the unique mugs and bowls that we don’t want ANYONE touching.
I love her enthusiasm. Daddy was coming home from work with rewards for the boys for being successful in their swim lessons, and they were small treats such as Clif Bars or Yoo Hoo drinks. I suspect that Taylor must have started feeling left out from those rewards, so she looked for a way to earn them. As we near the dusk of the boys’ swim lessons, I hope that she still has the motivation to continue her new job.
It becomes a chore when we begin to ask her to wash the dishes, similar to asking the boys to feed and water the animals. They do get compensated for their work. I took her to the toy store a few months ago, and she picked out the things that she would like to have. I wrote them down along with their prices. Both Ty and Kyle have earned enough to buy themselves a few things on their own lists.
Before we know it, Taylor will be washing dishes in a Snow White gown and necklaces that she will have crafted herself, using materials that she will have bought herself with her own money.
