A Little Cleaning

This morning we were all supposed to drive downtown to Atlantic Station and participate in a two mile walk for Autism with friends who have an autistic son.  But Owen had not been on his best behavior the night before with his Dad and this morning they were at each others' throats.  I thought it would be better for the two to get a little separation, so I stayed home and put Owen to work.

Maggie has not been doing so well going up and down the stairs.  Going down, it is becoming more common that one paw will crumple under and she loses her footing.  And going up the stairs, she hops like a bunny.  Once every one to two weeks, she skips eating her morning meal.  This morning, we woke to find she had peed in her crate (which she has never done in the seven years she has lived with us).  Also in the seven years she has been with us, that crate has never been cleaned...you can't imagine the amount of Maggie hair that had accumulated inside it!

Lucky Owen, he got to clean out Maggie's crate.  He wasn't thrilled at the start of the process and probably thought he was going to be touching the pee with his hands.  But the more he squirted with the hose, the more fun he had.  And the more I encouraged him and complimented his cleaning abilities and how much better the crate was looking, the more he got into it and would point out to me "See Mommy? All the dirt is gone in THAT crack!"

Owen took pride in cleaning out Maggie's crate and talked about how nice and clean it would be for her to sleep in it again.

Do you like his choice of footwear?

Owen did a great job rinsing out the crate after he finished washing the inside.  I think he felt pretty good about himself for helping out with something that needed to be done and that I would normally do on my own.

He was in a much better mood by the time Todd and Chloe came home.  I have noticed a change in my boy since this morning when he cleaned out Maggie's crate and later in the day helped me clean out all four cat boxes.  He isn't necessarily any more helpful around the house, but Owen is definitely more thoughtful.  He has been commenting back to us after we talk about things we have done around the house or yard with "Wow, that must have been a lot of work!" or "I bet that took you a long time."  

I like this change in him and have told him as much.  Seeing him grow as a person to realize there is so much that goes on outside of his world.  He is forming an understanding of what goes into maintaining our house and family.  But not just an understanding, an appreciation.  He is growing up.  Sometimes faster than I would like, but I am loving watching the boy he is becoming.