Video post: Audrey helping

Audrey loves to help lately. No matter what I'm doing, she just loves to get involved. It means things take a little longer, but oh my goodness it's so worth it to see how proud and happy she gets.

Yesterday she helped me with the laundry, bringing me the wet clothing a piece at a time from the washing machine to where I was hanging them up on the drier. "Can I have another one, please?" I'd ask, and she would turn and toddle the few steps back to the washing machine as fast as she could to pull out another sock or shirt. Some things were easy, like her little clothes, and she proudly carried her dinosaur top around the kitchen before handing it to me. Some things were difficult, like Ian's jeans that were heavy and unwieldy for her to carry, but she managed them anyway.

Later on we folded the dry laundry, which again she brought to me piece by piece then watched me sort and fold it ready to be put away.

I try to get her involved in cooking, give her a bowl and a wooden spoon and some (safe) ingredients from whatever I'm making for her to play with and taste. I show her what the food looks like periodically as I chop and stir and season. And this summer we'll be visiting our friends Ace and Faye to see how they grow vegetables and fruits, to learn more about where food comes from and how to treat it with respect. I hope this gives her the impression that food doesn't magically appear on our plates, or even in the supermarkets.

I also encourage her to be involved in taking care of the animals, both at home and at the shelter. She's definitely got the mad-about-animals gene from me, and is very enthusiastic about helping with them. I think it's so good for her to spend time at the shelter, we're usually there for one or two afternoons a week and she potters about pointing at the animals and stroking them, helping us feed them cabbages and carrots and sharing her apple slices with the guinea pigs.

Lately her favourite thing at the shelter is to help the volunteers with cleaning up. We clean out all the rabbits and guinea pigs every day, so that's a lot of cleaning! Audrey grabs a dustpan and brush and pitches right in, pretending to sweep up the mess that the other volunteers have swept into a tidy pile. She also loves to wander round holding the big broom and occasionally banging it on the floor in imitation of the bigger people. It's adorable and also fascinating to see her watching and imitating the things around her so carefully.