Vacuuming

I've decided that I would really like to be able to get more housework done while Abby's awake so that I can use her naps to do things that I would like to do (like work on my ever-growing list of projects) or things that I really can't do with her around (like folding laundry - we're good as long as there are things to pull out of the basket and hand to me, but once those are gone she starts going for the things I've already folded and we just end up in a never-ending cycle). For the most part, it's working out pretty well. Abby really likes to help me with the cleaning, and she's loved cooking for quite awhile. The one thing that we haven't been able to do yet, though, is vacuum. She's just terrified of the vacuum. If I take it out of the closet she just starts to cry and run away from me. She's not even a big fan of seeing it when I open the closet to get out a coat. So I thought that maybe we could use a little desensitization therapy (thanks Psych 100!) to work her up to the vacuum.

Adam's grandparents gave us a little electric sweeper for Christmas a couple of years ago. So I started running that this morning and then asked Abby if she wanted to try holding it. She gave me a terrified look and told me that Gingham was a little bit scared. So I turned it off, and she informed me that Gingham was going to be a big, brave lion and let Abby hold the sweeper. She pushed it around for a few minutes and then asked me to turn it on. She then proceeded to run around with the sweeper for about 20 minutes, and only stopped because it was naptime. So maybe there's hope for the big vacuum in the near future. And it's nice to know that I learned at least one useful thing in college.

Working hard



Rocking the fake smile with the vacuum