Relish these moments, for they soon will pass

People who have kids who are older often tell people with kids who are younger that they should enjoy every moment, because it all goes so quickly. Usually they refer to the sweet moments in life - the desire for your children to always be with you, their reliance on you as a source of comfort and support, their cute faces, first experiences, before they learn to talk back, lie and manipulate. 

We hear what they're saying. But there are other moments, maybe less obvious to the masses, that moms and dads of yonger ones should also appreciate. The moments where our toddlers want to help! They want to take the dog out to the bathroom (so they, too, can go outside), they want to feed the pets, do the laundry, wash the dishes, dust furniture - you name it - all the chores that parents can't wait to pass on to their young (isn't that why we have kids, anyway?? KIDDING!).

Rye's big thing is doing dishes. He wants to do them all the time and will push a chair over to the sink all by himself just to have the "luxury" of turning on the water and cleaning the dishes. As mommy watched him do this the other day, she couldn't help but fast forward ten years, to when Ryan will actually be required to do the dishes and how she is SURE his attitude will be less than accomodating. Luckily for her, she has technology on her side. And will gladly remind Ryan of the days when not only did he not argue about doing the dishes, but he screamed and cried when he was told "the dishes are all clean."