Doing Dishes with Asher

After Asher and I returned to Australia, Asher became extremely clingy. Our guess is that he was stressed from leaving/reuniting with his Dad- he became very anxious about us leaving him. He wanted to be in contact with us all the time, and if we were sitting and moved like we would get up, he would fling himself on us and cry. He spent a lot of time giving us cuddles and just laying on us. He was only really happy if the two of us were together in the room with him, and then he would play independently. At church, where he sees people he adores, he clung to my legs so tightly I could not walk.

So, what does this have to do with doing dishes? Well, I had to figure out ways to get things done, so I started including Asher in more things. I swept, he played with the dustpan (and dumped stuff back on the floor). I did dishes straddling a chair he was standing in, and he swished a sponge over the dishes, and picked dishes out of the drying rack and re-washed them for me. And splashed a lot. He did 'help' already with a lot of things- unpacking groceries, putting clothes in the washing machine and taking them out. We spent a lot of time playing together.

He seems to be back to normal now, except I cna only do dishes when he isn't looking otherwise he gets grumpy when he doesn't get to participate!