They "Help" Me

Last week Gage volunteered to make breakfast for me. Once assured that he knows the rules for no knives, no stove, etc. I said Sure. Ten minutes later he presented me with a plate, on which sat a perfectly reasonable-looking sandwich.

"Try it!" he urged. "It's samami." (Samami = Salami) "You like samami!"

Indeed I do. I took a quick peek at the sandwich and it seemed okay. Two slices of whole-wheat bread. Spicy mustard. Samami. And thick slices of cheddar cheese. Okay, I don't usually put cheese on salami sandwiches, but how bad could it be? I take a bite. I chew...Gage watches, with a hopeful smile. I smile back, and then my mouth starts to burn. I chew some more and try to keep smiling. My mouth is on fire...what did he put in here? Horseradish? I swallow and take a swig of coffee.

"Delicious!" I declare. I open the sandwich to look closer and that cheddar cheese? Is jalapeno cheddar. VERY, VERY STRONG jalapeno cheddar. I eat it on crackers, but I put a piece of cheese the size of a pea on each cracker, it's that strong.

"I know you like that cheese," he said, seeing me notice it.

"You're right. I do. In fact, I think I'll eat it a little later so I can really enjoy it. Thanks for the sandwich!"

"Okay, Mommy!" He runs off to play. Thank goodness he's still distractable.



On Saturday Gage and I had a lazy afternoon while Mike was working and the girls took naps. We sat around and read books, played games. I did laundry and dishes.

"I've noticed you've been doing a lot of chores lately," Gage said to me at one point.

"You're right, I have," I said. I pulled him to me for a hug. "Thanks for noticing."

"When I do chores for Grandma and PopPop they give me a reward." (It's true. They give him a dollar of "Pay.") "I was thinking that we should try that here, to see how it feels for us."

"Sure."

"I'm going to make a surprise for you. Don't come in the kitchen!"

(Oh no! No more jalapeno cheddar!)

Several minutes later Gage returns with with a glass mostly full of a chunky-looking tan concoction. He pokes a straw in and hands it to me.

"It's a smoothie!" He said cheerfully. "Good job on your chores, Mommy."

"Wow, thank you!" (OMG, am I going to have to drink this!? But he's SO SWEET.)

"It's milk, peanut butter and sugar. I used your whisk." I stir my 'smoothie' with the straw and discover that it is actually overwhelmingly peanut butter...probably 2/3 peanut butter and 1/3 milk.

"Okay," I take a little sip. Not much happens...apparently peanut butter can't easily BE whisked into milk...but finally a few globs of peanut butter slither up the straw and swoosh past the too-sweet milk. "Mmm," I say. "It's good!"

After that, I DID deserve a reward.



This morning Gage and Lila woke up before I did and "washed the windows" with a bottle of Febreze. (1) The windows need to be re-washed. Soon. (2) My house smells great!