Expanding Responsibilities

It's no secret that I am not a fan of ironing. I feel like the shirts for sure look better when I finish with them than when I start . . . but, man, not as perfect as I want them to be! Plus, I'm slow at it. And I burn myself a lot. For more than a week, the ironing board has been taking up precious real estate in our living room. During that time, I ironed a few things. Buck ironed a few things. Finally, Gabby says, "I'd like to learn to iron." You would! *Favorite child of the day* award goes to Gabby! :) 

We settled in for a tutorial, Brennen also watched (but he really just wanted to play the Sega and knew waiting politely increased his chances, especially since Caelan and G$ were out shoveling snow off the driveway :)

I went through the process once, completed a pesky dress shirt, and then turned over the steaming block of plastic and metal to my daughter. Gabby remembered every step and polished off several dress shirts in a row. Caelan popped in to try ironing the final product of the dress she made, but abandoned it for dinner. She did such a good job tutoring Gabby through a complex Algebra situation today, that I showed mercy on her equal dislike of ironing and finished the dress for her :) Gabby then swopped in and finished two freshly washed dress shirts--and the board is back in its cozy little storage nook. Mission complete! Hooray, that I have one kid (so far) who likes (yes?) to iron!

Another big responsibility growth area--Caelan opened her first checking account (minus the checks :) She had quite a packet of savings from her knitting and bear-making ventures, and it was time to put them into something more accessible than the home fire safe (ughh, the process of digging that thing out to cover business-related expenses!) Now, whenever she has a payment received, she can deposit in her account. If checks come in my name, it still works (since I had to co-sign, given her age).

After years of carrying exhausted gift cards and expired membership cards in her wallet, Caelan now has her very own debit card to help fill those clever slots. She handled the opening of the account, while I sat by and let her talk with the banker about options. She handled the activation of the account, while I sent her brother to frantically find her ss# before time ran out on the "enter now" screen . . . time ran out; she had to start over :) But it all worked out.

Pretty exciting, growing up things happening around here!