Chores

Riley has done chores for as long as I can remember. When he was old enough to take his toys out of the bin, we also figured he was old enough to put them back in the bin, and we'd make him do that before he could move on to the next activity. As he got older and became more responsible, Casey started teaching him how to help feed the dogs. This is his most important chore and lately he has been giving us some attitude about it -- "but I want to watch baseball and not feed the dogs..." (imagine this in the most whiny voice ever at 7:00 in the morning). Casey has been consistent and has not given in to his pleas, and I witnessed the most amazing thing this morning. Riley woke up, went to the bathroom, went immediately downstairs and fed the dogs without being asked or even prompted. I was in the next room folding laundry and from the mud room I could hear Riley's sweetest voice saying, "Come on, Winnie. Come inside. I've already got your food in there." Winston apparently was not budging, so he persisted. "Come on, sweet boy, come eat your breakfast." God I love that kid.