One more thing and then I'm off to bed

I was reminded tonight of my sweet child's desire for independence as I put away dishes. This morning as I was working on some homework, Maddie announced that she was going to make herself a peanut butter sandwich. Amused at the thought, I kept my eye on her from the computer desk and watched her get a piece of bread out of the bag, her plastic knife out of the utensil drawer and open the jar of peanut butter that had been sitting on the counter. She took a plate off the counter and crouched down over her findings and worked diligently at spreading the peanut butter on the piece of bread. She put everything back on the counter (even put the lid back on the peanut butter!) and brought me a crumpled piece of peanut butter bread that she had wadded up. She was only frustrated when she couldn't get the bread folded nicely in half. That's when she asked for help. I obliged, of course, smiling at her sense of accomplishment. She ate her "sandwich" and the day went on...I didn't think of the sandwich again.

Tonight as I was unloading the dishwasher and putting the clean things in their place, I noticed a yellow plastic knife in the utensil drawer - with peanut butter smeared from the tip of it all the way down to the bottom of the handle. I just had to laugh.