they whistle while they work

... well, I guess it's more singing than whistling, but you get the gist!

Pretty much every day the kids unstack the dishwasher, usually after breakfast. It is their main 'family contribution' chore that *I* am consistent with getting them to do... in fact now I pretty much rely on them!

What once was a prolonged project (especially with a distractable toddler) has become a pretty streamlined operation, with the two of them managing to completely unstack it in about ten minutes. There have been seasons of dragging feet, but now they just jump in and cheerfully and quickly get the job done.

This morning I was taking care of Miles in another room and listening to them sing 'Jesus loves the little children' together, and giggling and chatting as they merrily attended to their task.

Siblings singing and laughing together whilst undertaking household chores? Yeah, pretty much a mother's dream, haha! Well, mine at least. I had to take a moment to stop and give thanks to God for these sweet kids and their happy, helpful hearts. So very, very thankful for my blessings.

Don't get me wrong - many times this task has been punctuated with complaints, squabbles (who gets to put the grater away, who shut the drawer too quickly, who isn't helping enough) or by a two-year-old wandering off in distraction and so on. Well, I don't know why the cheese grater is such hot property, and my plastics and cutlery drawers are usually in chaos thanks to the best-stacking-efforts of a toddler and preschooler. But we persevere, we train and encourage, they improve over time and it has all been Oh.So.Worth.It.

'Cos this scene? Delightful! 

(And besides, I now have a good excuse for the messy state of my kitchen cupboards.... 

I can just blame the kids!)

A discussion about who is closing the drawer this time. (E: Lily, it's my turn!).
They open and shut it after every dish.  I just let them work out their own technique, however ineffective, lol!! 

When a two year old who can't see into the drawer puts away the cutlery, it sometimes looks like this and even worse.
It just makes me smile.... yep, totally worth a messy cutlery drawer!