If we're being completely honest, there is one kid who is getting the short end of the stick around these parts lately. Mila requires most of my attention and a good chunk of my patience, so Alexis is left with a lesser version of me. It's the version that says, "That's nice" a lot without looking to see the magnificent drawing thrust forward. It's the version that has forgotten how to cook. It's the version that expects a whole lot, but doesn't give much of anything. And Alexis is loving it.
Somehow, someway, I have managed to turn neglect into a parenting style that works for The Big Kid.
I can't seem to manage to feed three people during the day, so I focus on feeding the Tiny Human. Alexis feeds herself and sometimes she feeds me. So far the kid has gone from only knowing how to use the microwave to being able to cook macaroni-n-cheese, spaghetti, ramen, and a whole host of other pasta-based dishes. Today she mastered the art of the scrambled egg.
Teach a kid to scramble an egg and she will eat for years. Offer to scramble the egg for her and she will die of starvation waiting.
Laundry is a whole other issue. I haven't done laundry in years, but I do tend to gather the dirty clothes. Alexis piles her dirty clothes all over her bedroom floor, right alongside her clean clothes. Apparently she knows which things are clean vs dirty because when I ask, she is able to point me in the right direction. When I stopped asking, a miraculous thing happened -- Alexis eventually took all of her dirty laundry down to the washing machine and ran a load. By herself. Without being asked. She even did it before she ran out of clean underwear.
Between the ramen skills and the laundry washing, I do hereby declare the kid ready for college.
Other "skills" the kid has mastered include being allowed to pick up her sister (she isn't allowed to walk while holding Mila -- yet), changing diapers, and fetching pacifiers. In other words, I have started outsourcing some of my responsibilities. By the time Mila is a toddler, I'll be sitting on the couch eating bonbons all day.
Alexis thinks the whole "more responsibilities" thing is the bestest.
Mila and I agree.
