Sometimes Help is Overrated

Micah was sick the other night, so I kept him home from school the next day. He was in recovery mode, which meant that he was perfectly able to help with the housework.

I was folding the towels from the dryer when he realized that I wasn't in his sight. He found me in the laundry room, and then proceeded to occupy himself with a chore as well because apparently it was chore time. He got a scoop of dog food to refill the bowl. I had just fed the dogs and thought, "Wow, they were hungry." No. No they weren't. He dumped a whole scoop of food on top of the full bowl anyway. Since it spilled out onto the floor, he tried minimizing the mess by patting it down.



That didn't work, so he scooped up as much as he could and threw it in the kitchen sink.



That task being tended to, he came back to the laundry room to see what else he could help with. Why, look! There are balls in the dryer! Silly Mama, balls don't belong in the dryer, those are dog toys. He grabbed them and ran to find a dog to play fetch with. I heard them hit the floor, but as our dogs aren't big fans of the game of fetch, nothing further happened.

(And as a word of warning, do not waste your hard earned money on those useless dryer balls. You've been warned. The only reason they're still tumbling around in my dryer is because I paid for them and by golly they're going to tumble around there forever whether they work or not. It makes me feel better at least.)

I finished folding and ran upstairs to get another load of laundry. As I was coming back down the steps I heard the washer being turned on. They created the child lock feature for kids just like mine. Unfortunately you can't lock it when it's not in use. Micah took his shirt off and tossed it in the washer. No water had been in contact with the shirt yet so I took it out and put it back on him. After starting my own load of laundry, and engaging the child lock feature so that he couldn't turn it off mid-cycle, I headed in to find my dryer balls.

I started the puppies on solid food today and put them in an easy-to-clean private suite. The easy-to-clean feature also makes it easy-access for Micah. The puppies were the recipients of Micah's generous ball-sharing today. And now we have dryer balls that need cleaned.



The easy-access private suite is lacking a door, so I propped a barrier up to block the puppies' escape. Micah found this quite inappropriate and removed it to make puppy escapes easy. It was. They did. And they pooped on the floor.

When I was done cleaning the floor I turned around the clean up the private suite. Tink beat me to it. Finally, help that was appreciated today. A little gross, but appreciated nonetheless.


There are some things that I never thought I would utter, and this is one of them. Some days I could probably do with a little less help around here.

14 comments:

Brandie said...

I hear ya. Thanks for letting me know its not going to get any better for a while. Goldie's broken dish tally is 6 now. 4 of them plastic.

Viv said...

Ah yes! I seem to recall that particular brand of help myself...

I am still laughing, but, when it is my day in question? My sense of humor leaves something to be desired.

AZ Chapman said...

too cute u have to admit

Unknown said...

I love that you took pictures of it all. You are a true blogger!! :)

I have to admit I am laughing at your story, only because I have sooooo been there.

Becoming Mommy said...

ah, yes...."help"

I get lots as well. Oh, how I wish it would stop. Then so much wanton destruction would end and my workload would shrink.

Danyele Easterhaus said...

help is overrated...

does it make you feel any better to know that i am chuckling at the post?

Burgh Baby said...

The really sad thing? When I think of "help is overrated," I totally think of my husband. Alexis can help me clean any time because she's still young enough to be eager to follow directions. He is a WHOLE other story, though.

designHER Momma said...

I appreciate the gesture of help provided by my 4 year old - but more often than not could do without.

CC said...

Can they turn kids off mid-cycle??? :)

I like my dryer balls. They may not do anything, but they make me feel better.

KG said...

I have that same problem with my child lock feature on my washer - it only works when the thing is "on." Whoever designed it clearly didn't have kids. I'm always running loads of wash with like a pair of socks in there or something.

As for the sink of dog food? Hawt.

And the poo on the floor? Less hawt.

Dog eating poo? Ick.

Stephanie said...

Hi! New here and just had to comment on your great blog. Your kids are beautiful and I love love this post. Too trus that sometimes less help IS more. Thanks for the giggle!

SunflowerStories said...

LOL!! I have so been there!

I fell for the dryer ball advertising too. Those things make a rucus in the dryer! Plus they hurt when thrown at you. I've put them up high out of reach. Should I mail them to you instead?

JennyH said...

Love the pictures to go with the story. Some times we could get a lot more done without that special help!

Michelle said...

Yeah... gotta love the doggie help with cleanup. And the kids. Someday the kids learn though, right?

How's the puppy from last night doing?