The Born Housewife

My sweet Peyton never ceases to amaze me. She's a born housewife, through and through. I swear that today, at 19 months old, she's a better housewife than I am. To anyone who knows Peyton, it's no secret that she's impeccably clean. From about a year old, she's been obsessed with with wiping down any "dirty" surface. I've caught her taking a baby wipe to the kitchen floor--down on her hands and knees, literally scrubbing the heck out of it. Once when she was 13 months old she picked up a t-shirt, asked Bryan to pick her up, then pointed towards the window; when he got her there, she immediately started cleaning the window in circular motions. My sister Leigh and I love to laugh about the times when Peyton's cousin Norah would make a mess while eating and Peyton would quickly come to the rescue--diligently cleaning Norah's crumbs. Just the other day, in the living room, she pulled out a basket of Christmas ornaments (yes, I need to get those to the basement...) and played with them. I got busy doing something in the kitchen and by the time Peyton came into the kitchen, I figured I should go clean up the ornaments seeing as I was sure she'd pulled them all out. I walked into the living room to see the ornaments placed NEATLY back in the basket... organized more precisely than I ever would have!

 

sorry about that glowing eye... took this on my phone...

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Well, the story behind the above picture is no exception to my daughters obsession with cleanliness.  The other day, Bryan and I were sitting on the couch. I was nursing Britany and Bryan was watching the game. Bryan had cleaned out the basement earlier that day, and had spilled some styrofoam on the carpet. I casually mentioned that he should clean it up. Peyton was playing in the other room, and we couldn't see her from where we were sitting. I heard her little feet padding across the floor.... she walked into the living room to show us something, and immediately noticed the styrofoam. She pointed at it and declared "UH OH!", obviously distressed by the mess. Then as quickly as she came, she left. Well, next thing I knew, I heard the drawer open where I keep the hand held vacuum cleaner. I hear the cord being unraveled.... then I see Peyton drop down to her knees beside me with the vacuum cleaner in hand! She started attempting to vacuum it up! (Now, no, my daughter does NOT know how to plug in appliances, so the vacuum was not on...) Well, my dear husband saw this as an opportunity to get out of cleaning up his mess... so he plugged it in for her. And Peyton went on to clean up the whole mess.. not leaving one speck remaining!!!!

And then of course, it's no secret that she loves to cook:

And her mothering instincts are already quite present:

 

All in all, lets just say, God knew what He was doing when He gave me Peyton for a firstborn! Couldn't ask for a better Mommy's Helper!