Brooke woke up early today, as she has been doing lately. So early that I was not yet up, showered or ready. I sent her downstairs by herself and hoped for the best. I showered as fast as I could and came out, and could hear the water running downstairs ... then she turned it off. I figured she was washing her hands. I got dressed, searched for some clothes for her, and then heard the water again. Hmm...
"Brooke, what are you doing?" I yelled down the stairs.
"Washing grapes!" she replied. Then I got a bit worried.
When Ryan and I got downstairs she had made breakfast for her and her brother. There were two bowls each with about 10 pieces of cereal, two cups of water and a plate of grapes. She also had a box of squeeze yogurts on the counter that she had pulled from the fridge. She told her brother to sit down for breakfast, and he did. She then placed the two squeeze yogurts on the kitchen table and told him they were "for dessert" before she sat herself.
I'm all about independence. But, Brooke had to take a stool, move it to the kitchen counter, and then climb up on that counter to get those bowls and cups. While I was in the shower she could have fallen, and at that height, the outcome could have been pretty bad. Now tonight I've got another item on my to-do list. I have to somehow find cabinet or drawer space at kid-friendly height so that little-miss-independent can continue on this path, without me having to worry about her breaking her neck. Soon, perhaps we can train her to get her brother out of bed, bring him downstairs, put on the television, and make them both breakfast ... so that Mommy & Daddy can sleep in on the weekends. Now that's a parents dream come true.
