Mr. Clean

Ever since moving to The Hill, Logan has become very independent. He cruises around the house, going where ever his mood might send him. If he wants to go play, he opens the basement door and goes down to play. When he’s had enough of that, he’ll come back up and maybe grab a drink or see what I’m up to. Sometimes he’ll go play in “Yam Yam’s” (Cameron) room, or he’ll go to his room and fish Snuggle Puppy out of the crib. On rare occasion I’ll catch him doing something he’s not supposed to, like playing in my make-up drawer. No, he’s never put any on.

I trust that he is going to stay out of trouble because he usually does. I trust that he’s safe because I’ve taken steps to make sure that he is safe. Besides the kid proofing, I have my “Momdar” on high alert when he’s not within my sight and make it a point to check on him frequently, especially when he’s been too quiet for too long.

Since I was so sick last weekend and for a good part of last week I fell behind in my housework. Yesterday was a good day to work towards catching up. While Bill and Cameron were running around town, Logan and I stayed home and I got down to business.

I turned some music on and started checking off my to do list. As I buzzed around the house Logan for the most part followed. He also checked on Princess Nittany and gave her a pat on the head. He was in Yam Yam’s room playing on his Lightning McQueen laptop. I heard him go back downstairs, and I heard the basement door open.

I was up and down between the first and second floors a few times, all the while Logan was in the basement playing happily by himself. I went up to put laundry away, and about two minutes later I heard a crash from the kitchen area. In my house when you hear a crash you expect to have it followed by crying. I’m not sure what’s more upsetting, a crashed followed by a cry or one that is not. Yesterday it was one that was not.

I ran down the steps to find the door to the walk in pantry open…It should have been closed. I turn the light on to find a small flood. I have no idea what he did or how he did it, but Logan managed to get the (nearly full) bottle of Swiffer Wet Jet cleaner emptied on the floor. I put him on his naughty step, more to keep him out of my way while I cleaned than to punish him, and grabbed a towel. It was when I went to the kitchen sink for a paper towel that I saw the pantry was not the only place Logan tried to clean. He had gone under the sink and found something to spray all over the floor and on the kitchen table.

Ok, before you chastise me for not keeping a child lock on the kitchen sink, neither of my kids have showed the slightest interest in that area of the house, so it never seemed necessary. I might reconsider not having a lock there now though.

Logan wasn’t trying to be bad, quite the opposite, he was just trying to help. I think he saw Mommy running around cleaning like a crazy person and thought he’d get the kitchen done for me. After cleaning up the mess he made “cleaning”, I made him stay in my sight the rest of the morning until Daddy came home and I could send him outside.

Logan’s most used phrase is, “I do it mom/dadee.” He wants to do it all, from cooking, to cleaning, to gardening, to whatever Yam Yam is doing. I hope in a few more years when he’s old enough (and big enough) to do more around the house he still wants to.

Poor Logan, he’s a big kid stuck in a toddler’s body.