Ada is awesome

There are a gazillion reasons why that is true.  The girl rocks.  I am reminded of this fact on a regular basis and this morning it came in the form of laundry.  I was doing chores and the girls were playing in the yard.  She asked if she could have a long piece of rope.  I clarified what she meant by "long" and we decided that rope could not be used on people then I gave her a piece from our camping supplies (which are still living on our porch btw).  She agreed and went off with her rope.  I saw her working hard trying to put the rope all over the climber but just let her go.  After a while she asked for help.  She told me she was trying to put up a clothes line.  I showed her how to tie a not and she did with a little help.  Next she wanted to hang up some clothes.  She went inside and got the clothes for her babies and began hanging them up.  I asked if she wanted to wash them first.  "Ooooh, yes mama."

Enter the land of awesomeness.  I had seen a post on Chasing Cheerios a while back and have been wanting to put together a clothes washing station for the girls but as usual just haven't gotten to it.  Ada beat me to it.  Again it wasn't what was in my mind's eye or nearly as beautiful as the party set up in the Chasing Cheerios post, but she (and Emma) enjoyed it.

I think this is the sort of "proof" that Montessori style education has legs.  I'm not going to say I think it's the be all end all, but kids really do like to have purpose.  I see it every day.  Especially Ada wants to do things that have greater purpose- even though she might call it "play" she is most engaged and happy when she knows she is contributing or when she is learning a skill that is applicable to her becoming more independent.  The other morning she asked if she could wash the floor in her room all by herself.  I'm not going to discourage that type of desire however messy it might be so I gave her a tupperware full of water and soap and a little sponge.  Emma was interested in doing what big sister was doing so I let her wash the floor in the kitchen with me.  

These shots were taken after a while of playing (about 30 min.) so she added in the car- not exactly sure why.  I love love love that she initiated this activity and while the photo shoot might have looked nicer if I had set it up, this is way better.  I got some real laundry soap so she felt quite important.

Emma did help hang a few things and I was impressed that Ada let her work with her and not just yell and tell her it was her work and she wanted to do it all by herself.  I wonder if me taking more of a backseat let her be more the teacher and she was trying to show Em how to do it.  Pretty cute.

Emma taking in her challenge.

Success.

We went out and came back around lunch time.  Ada asked if she could go to take in her laundry while I made lunch and I agreed of course.  She carefully took off each clothespin and put all the clothes in a basket and brought them in.  She told me it was going to rain and she needed to bring them in.  I got her some kid hangers and she folded some and hung some up.  Again, love it!

I love you Miss Ada boo!