Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Help (02/20/06)
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TITLE: From Whence Cometh My...Help? | Previous Challenge Entry
By Shari Armstrong
02/22/06 -
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“Mama! I wanna help.”
Next thing I know, I have a stool stepping on my toes, “Slow down, Sweetie. Let me finish getting things ready.” I grab the stool, before she can add her weight and help it squish my toes, and move it out of the way.
“Are you ready yet?” she holds on to the stool, ready to push it back against the sink the second I give the word.
I sigh, “Almost.” I wonder if she’ll be this anxious to help me in about ten years? Probably not, so I better take advantage of it while I can. I grab the stool and put it back in place, with the steps toward the sink, to keep her from falling off and getting hurt.
“Here you go,” I say, as I drop assorted forks and spoons in the rinse water.
She grabs them one at a time, putting them in the drainer, “Ouch, it’s still hot!” She blows on the water, like she does Daddy’s coffee.
“Sweetie, you can take more than one.”
Ever the literalist, she grabs all she can find in the sink, trying to get them in one sweep. Before she can get them to the drainer, she drops a half dozen along the way. I laugh, “You don’t have to take them all at once, though.”
“Ok, Mama.”
While she finishes that, I reach behind me and get the stack of bowls and plates, reheat my water a bit, and start washing the next round. I put a bowl in the rinse water and remind her, “Be careful, don’t drop them.”
She nods and begins to spin the bowl, lifts it, pours the water out, getting more of it on her than back in the sink.
”Tip it the other way,”
She giggles, “Oh, yeah.” She scoops more water into the bowl, and dumps it back out again.
By this time, I have another three bowls lined up in the sink. She starts to spin the next one, bumping the bowls into each other.
”Slow down, the dishes are tough, but don’t break ‘em.”
“This way?” She asks me, to make sure she’s putting the dishes in the drainer right.
I nod, “Yes, let them lean a little bit. Use the slots to help you.”
”Mama, I love you,” she leans over and gives me a soggy hug.
Giving her a kiss on her forehead, I hug her back. “I love you, too.”
Next up: the bowls and pans. I grab a glass bowl and I as I put it in the rinse water, she recoils as if she’s just seen a water snake. “You do that, I don’t wanna to drop it!”
“Yes, I’ll take care of the glass stuff.” She climbs down off the stool. “I’m gonna go back and out with Daddy and my brother.”
”Ok, I’ll finish up.” I give her another kiss. “Thanks, you’re a big helper!”
”You’re welcome, Mama.” She bounces back out to the living room. Within five seconds, I hear a scream quickly followed by, “Give that back to your brother.”
I smile and finish my dishes and wonder if this is how God feels when we try to help Him?
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I loved "ever the literalist" - we laugh about that all the time with my three.
Good job, put a big smile on my face, and awesome last line!!
Great work, I'm so glad I found this one.
I love the last line too.
What a beautiful account of one of those precious moments!