Idle Hands

It's true, idle hands are the devil's tools, especially when they belong to an almost 3 year old boy. The most recent devilry involves harassing the cats. Matthew has discovered that if he shrieks and wields his Wormy the way Indiana Jones wields his whip, then Pumpkin will scamper off with satisfying speed and hide under the bed. This has become one of Matthew's favorite activities. Unfortunately for him, Pumpkin is wise to his little games and will typically flee the sound of his approaching footsteps. I'm sorry to say that we have allowed this to happen because Pumpkin made herself very unpopular by rattling the door to our bedroom and yowling in the middle of the night. As we already had 2 reasons for being woken up in the night, we did not appreciate her contribution and consequently did not feel like offering her much protection. There's that, and of course if Matthew is off bothering Pumpkin, he isn't bothering us....

One the ways we try to keep Matthew out of trouble is to give him jobs to do. He can bring and dump small garbage cans, dry off tupperwear, get laundry in and out of the dryer, pair socks and recently, fold burp cloths. He is a somewhat unreliable assistant as he may suddenly choose to abandon a job in favor of giving Wormy a ride in the laundry basket, for example, but generally this seems to work out. As you can see in the photo above, washing the car was a big hit since it involved water, soap bubbles, washing things and of course, The Hose.

The Hose is an endless source of entertainment. It can be used to water plants, fill up a wading pool or small cups, clean off one's feet or the car and of course spray the cat. "You (I) wanna water Oscar!" is a common request. He is actually successful from time to time because Oscar tends to ignore Matthew with a kind of haughty disdain rather than paying attention to what Matthew is up to. While we are less irritated with Oscar at the moment, we haven't intervened much because we are so surprised that even with all the room he has to maneuver and Matthew's uncertain aim, Oscar still can't get out of the way of a toddler with a hose.