I’m proud to say the kids are starting to help out around the house a little more than they did well….ever.

Hanna is responsible for folding any and all laundry that may or may not be piled up waiting for her when she walks in the door after school.

Cruel perhaps, that I work on my interpretive dance, circling the baskets with my green tea and totally healthy dark chocolate/date balls (17 some days but when it comes to health food, the more the merrier).

Ellie collects the garbage each week and yesterday I somehow convinced her it was her idea to remove all of the shoes/boots from the shoe/boot rack and re-organize, de-clutter and basically clean that mess up.

Chloe, the youngest, is desperate to be included.

Hanna doesn’t let her fold because she takes great pride in her work and doesn’t know how to respond to a four year old holding up my Spanx-girdles and asking “Are these shorts for a monkey?” Hanna and I have a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy when it comes to my undergarments.

Ellie won’t let her organize shoes because like all group work in her future, she will want total control and will make it almost impossible to make suggestions on how to make things better or see things from another point of view.

I would work on that with her but right now she’s organizing my shoes so….

I gave Chloe the task of setting the table.

Chloe asked what she should do first and I said, “You need to give everyone a fork.”

I put the lid on the asparagus. Someone made a comment about how it makes your urine stink. We laughed. Life was good.

Life was actually great.

All three of my kids pitching in around the house and no one had even figured out the only thing I had made for dinner was some steamed asparagus with a urine emulsion.

Then I looked at the eclectic mix of dishes, cups, the water jug on the table and it made me smile.

I did notice the lack of cutlery and asked Chloe if she remembered the forks.

She said, “You told me to give one to everybody.”

She had. Hanna had hers on the pile of socks, Ellie’s was on the shoe rack and mine was next to the pot on the stove.

Rule number 1 when delegating: Be specific.