Daddy Diaries – Why Can’t You Do What I Told You To

This morning, I had an experience that just got me on a range of emotions.  While packing up the five bagillion things needed to send two kids to grandma's house for the weekend, I entrusted my 20-month old to a task to not only keep her busy but to help with what I needed done.

LeAnn is in the middle of just about everything in our house, not the least of which is getting all up in her 6-month-old brother's face.  So, to remedy the situation and get her occupied for a few moments, I handed her a huge sleeve of diapers.

'You wanna help Daddy?" I asked.  "Help!" She replied in agreement.

"Take these diapers to the kitchen," I said, hoping that would buy me another 2-3 minutes of prep time, until she came back for the next task.  After about five minutes, I started to worry that things were not going as planned.  My fears were confirmed as I walked into the living room to see the diapers opened and scattered all over the floor.

"LeAnn, pick those up right now!"  Daddy was losing patience and needed to get these kids in the car, but there she sat in the floor, taking the diapers and stuffing them, one-by-one into her toy refrigerator and stove.

After one last pass through the house, I raised my voice one more time, "LeAnn...put those diapers back in the bag and get them out of your kitch..."  Immediate laughter.  Yes, she did EXACTLY what I told her to do.  She took the diapers and put them in the kitchen.

I love how kids can take you from furious to proud in just a few seconds, and in the process, teach you a valuable lesson: "Always be specific!"