Midlife’s A Trip

Swiffing with the Peanut

Posted on 06. Oct, 2008 by Karen in Family and Friends

The topic of this post is deliberately light.  No politics, nothing about the economy, nothing sad or disturbing.  Lately, you’ve noticed I’m sure, I’ve gotten swept up in all that’s happening in the news.  Despite the fact that I censor my news intake, the little bit I’ve let in has spilled over into my blog.  Well not today.

Today is about my 4 year old niece, the “Peanut”.  Peanut is in her ”helping out” phase.  I’m sure this will pass as she gets closer to being a teenager but for now Peanut really wants to help with housework.  I’ll talk to her on the phone and she asks if she can wash my dishes.   Of course, I tell her:

Honey, come right on over!

Last Friday, Peanut came by with her mother – my poor tired-after-a-hard-week-working-and-parenting sister — who immediately collapsed on the couch.  I was making pasta and Peanut wanted to help cook.  Since that was a little dicey with the big pot of boiling water on the stove, I asked if she’d like to do something else to help.  That’s when she asked if she could “swif”. 

Swif is Peanut’s slang for using the Swiffer gizmo to clean the floor.  She’s loved using that thing since she was two.  And I love that she loves using it.  So I loaded the Swiffer with a fresh cloth and steered Peanut in to swif the dining room where I could keep her in sight. 

Well you should have seen Peanut get into her swiffing.  As I watched, she swiffed away, getting into every little corner and covering every inch of the wood floors.  I complimented her highly and stepped back in the kitchen to check the pasta.  When I peeked back in the dining room, the ever-efficient Peanut had finished the floors and was energetically — and proudly– swiffing my glass-top dining room table!! 

I confess for a minute I was speechless – caught between OMG and cracking up at my adorable, industrious niece.  When I found my voice again, I complimented Peanut again on her swiffing and moved her into the living room to fluff couch pillows while I surreptitiously Windexed the dining room table. 

As I look back on Peanut and her cleaning, it’s not lost on me that maybe her swiffing was just what I needed to clear the negative news out of my week.  Because it did just that.

Anything you need to swif out of your life right about now?

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