Tuesday, September 16, 2008

From My Fuschia, Velvet Chaise Lounge.

Sunday, September 14, 2008, 12:17 p.m.

Libbey: Mommy, I am starving. Can I have something to eat?

Me: I'll fix you something as soon as I get Sissy down for her nap.

Libbey: But I'm starving!

Me: Give me 5 minutes. You won't die in 5 minutes I promise. If you start to feel as if you are dying, call Daddy at the hospital first. (We are always overtly dramatic in our family. Work with me, people.)

Five minutes later...
I walk into the kitchen and see this:


There sits my eldest child, dining away while circling every other item in the Kelly's Kids catalogue, 90% of which she won't be getting.

Me: Did you do that all by yourself? (Which was a stupid question because her father was at the hospital, and there are no lunch fairies at our house. Believe me, I've checked. Often.)

Libbey: I just couldn't wait for you, Mommy. Is that OK? I was really hungry. I wasn't dying, but I just couldn't wait. And actually, Daddy's too far away to help.
Good point.
But the best part is that not only did she fix her own lunch, she also completely cleaned up after making it...witness:
She gets the OCD from her Dad. Look at the "Sleeping With the Enemy" manner in which she turned all the labels forward.

She even got the jelly into the top of the fridge door. Who knew she could even reach that high?

Now this little scenario might not be the least bit impressive to any of y'all. But I gotta tell you...it thrilled me from the top of my badly-in-need-of-touching-up roots to the tips of my badly-in-need-of-a-pedicure toes.

This week...a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, followed by a complete clean up & the putting away of items used to assemble said meal. Next week...I'm teaching her to steam crab legs, make clarified butter, cheese grits, and green beans. Followed by a complete clean up & the putting away of items used to assemble my favorite meal. Then she can vacuum the living room, fold a few loads of laundry, and put the clothes in their rightful drawers/closets.
Clearly, this is why I had kids.

Meanwhile I'll be eating bonbons, watching reruns of Designing Women, and pretending to be the Queen of Sheba.

45 comments:

I Love Purple More Than You said...

Oh you are SO the Queen of Sheba. Very impressed by your daughter's lunch-making and label-facing skills!

Jyl @ MommyGossip said...

Please send her over. Pretty please! My boys just stand there and scream at the looming death they face as their stomachs scream out in agony. I soooooo need your daughter to show them the way!

Swirl Girl said...

Teach her deep tissue massage and I'll trade you .

Children with benefits?

Putting the FUN in DysFUNctional said...

I know far too many ADULTS who couldn't/wouldn't do such a great job!

Driftwood and Pumpkin said...

Ha! Love surprise independence. Last night Ladybug announces at dinner that she WANTS to do dishes. Then she wanted to know if that was okay. Um, let me think a minute...YES!

Amy said...
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Amy said...
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Amy said...

Ah you have to love that. There is nothing better than a little self sufficiency. It's the little things, right?
Have a great day!

Dawn said...

She's on the way to independence! I can't believe how she straightened the labels on the bottle! To funny!

Britt said...

How cool is that? I keep saying I can't wait till my girls are tall enough to do the dishes!

Shelley said...

Does she give lessons? I have two almost teenage boys that could use a little help in the self sufficiency department.

Unknown said...

Isn't that the most wonderful moment?? I love my Saturday mornings in bed now that I can lay there an the girls can take care of themselves. And if I get REALLY lucky... they'll make ME breakfast!

ParentingPink said...

Wow! That's one hungry child you've got! LOL I am totally impressed! I need for her to come over to my house and teach my girls how to do the same thing!

S Club Mama said...

I love this! What a self-sufficient girl you're raising. Congrats, mom!

Heather said...

I love it! Isabel is totally that way; her older brother, not so much.

And now she totally deserves something out of that catalog. Positive reinforcement, you know.

Kids are home from school, again. Jeez, by the time they go back, it's gonna be like starting from scratch with Gabe and preschool. Yuck!

Lauren W said...

Ha! You sound like my sister :D My oldest niece totally ends up cooking randomly for everybody just because Diana is tied up with something else and she gets tired of waiting. I love it :)
No mail today... but soon :)

Pinky Roth said...

I am so proud of Libbey! Yes, she is growing up too fast before my eyes...I know you were proud of her and yes you need to let her pick out an outfit in the catalog for being so special!

Mom

Brandy said...

That is too cute! I cannot believe that she cleaned up too...now if she had only fixed mom a samich then the world would be perfect.

There's also next time, after the grits lesson.

KimmyJ said...

Your lunch making days are numbered...(also needs roots done and pedicure PRONTO!)

Rachel said...

I stumbled across your blog and your too funny! Love it...and love her organization...I am the same way LOL

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

I love self sufficient children. Katie does so much on her own. Except she is afraid to put anything in the oven. Madalyn pretends to be incompetent so that she can get her sister to do things for her. She'll join you in the Queen of Sheba activities.

Vicki said...

I'm thoroughly impressed that she did all that within five minutes. My daughter would still be making lunch from yesterday if I gave her full reign.

Caroline said...

Oooo, that is so sleeping with the enemy. Creepy. Seriously though, that's great that she took the initiative by herself and was so clean about it. Love me some PB&J and a big honkin' glass of milk. Make me one too Libbey!

Insane Mama said...

Exactely Why I had kids. Well that and so they can polish my walker when I am older

Live.Love.Eat said...

Hah! Cute!!! Sleeping with Enemy reference, the roots, the pedicure. Hah! When this happens to me I am going to actually shed a tear. When my son started going to the fridge & was able to get out his chocolate milk, I couldn't get over that big boy step. It's a bittersweet measure of time going by.

Mama Dawg said...

That was the greatest day of my life...the day I discovered my daughter could make her own breakfast/lunch.

Tori said...

That's pretty awesome! And especially that she put everything away when she was finished! I wish mine would figure out how to make his own lunch sometimes (although, he won't touch pb&j with a 10 foot pole). He can, however, vacuum.... and loves to do it. Guess what he gets to do on a weekly basis? :)

Amy said...

I love when they get to be independent. Cleaning up? That is definitely a PLUS!

CaraBee said...

I can't even get my husband to make lunch for himself. We had a bit of a row yesterday because he was hungry and I didn't feel like making him lunch. I'm like, honey, how did you survive before I came along? One meal a week is hardly torture. In the end, he went and got us McDonalds. I didn't have to make lunch but somehow it didn't feel like a victory.

I have a long way to go, but I am very excited for the day when my little one can feed herself. Well done, Miss Lula!

Lauren W said...

Oh, and uhh... also, could I get a picture of this fuschia velvet chaise lounge? I need it. I just do.

KatBouska said...

YES! That's awesome. I didn't even know they MADE squeezable jelly. I love it!!

And the fact that your daughter made her own lunch is pretty cool too. I KNOW if Maile were to attempt such a feat there would be condiments spread across my kitchen counter. Sometimes OCD is a good thing.

Mrs. X said...

What a sweet child! If my son has to wait for a meal, he calls up my mother, father, sisters, brother (anyone who will listen) and tells them that I am "starving" him.

Gina said...

Oh yeah, Lula! I bought a 2 step ladder so my Libby could reach the controls on the front of the stacked-on-top-dryer. Hey, she asked if laundry could be her job. I try to give them everything they want, you know.

Unknown said...

Libbey is just wonderful! But dream on honey...you just wait until she is a teenager or as my aunt calls them "tonagers"! They expect to be treated like adults but can't do a thing for themselves!

Sissy said...

You gotta train 'em up right, otherwise who will take care of you when you are old?

Rhea said...

They can do so much more than they let on...kids, I mean. I'm impressed.

My boys act sooo helpless.

Infarrantly Creative said...

Oh my gosh I am jealous my kid can't even hold his bladder - grrr this potty training thing sucks

Debbie said...

Yahoo! Isn't amazing what they can do when they really want to??? Now was this part of some, you know, blog parenting as I like to call it ;)

Kelly said...

Will you be renting her out or cloning her in the near future?

Unknown said...

I can't wait until my children are old enough to do real chores, even though I vowed as a teenager that I would never do that to my children. WRONG.

Trish said...

do you see me?

i am green with envy.

not because she can make her own lunch. my kids learned to make quesadillas when they were 4.

my envy comes from the fact that she cleaned up............

may I have her please?

Heather said...

The lunch gods be praised!! So the jelly thing is a little unbelievable, but the rest is brilliant!

Angie's Spot said...

That is extremely impressive! I can't wait for the day that my girls take lunch into their own hands. Sigh.

Tiffany said...

Okay. We have the same countertops. The same olive oil. The dame jam (the strawberry Smuckers.)

And, of course, the Grey Poupon.

Unknown said...

I love that my son can totally do his lunch & dinner... now if only he could catch a little OCD... I would be thrilled! ; )