Published: June 27, 2008 11:04 am            

DADDY'S GIRL: Cleanliness tougher than laziness

Who knew parental lethargy would set in so fast?

I came into the living room last weekend to find Penny playing with one of her books.

She normally turns the pages and holds them up to be read by Mommy or me, but she discovered a different game this time.

As I turned the corner, she had several pages strewn about, forming a circle of literary devastation around her. She glanced at me, gave me a smile (the new smile she’s learned that means, “I know I’m doing something wrong, but I like it”) and went back to her current page, tearing the head off of the fox in the picture.

I probably should have been mad — a bit upset at least. I instead took a seat on the floor and played with the pages with her, holding them up so she could inspect the animals on them before commencing the shredding.

The book was already ruined, I figured. No sense in trying to fight it.

With that, Penny took a huge step toward winning the cleanliness war.

We recently moved the DVD racks from the living room and baby-proofed most of the rest, allowing her to roam free around the room (with a baby gate at the doorway) instead of only having use of half the space. She greatly enjoys the added real estate but has discovered a new game in the process — jailbreak. Any time the gate isn’t put up, she laughs and quickly darts for the hallway and the forbidden kingdom that awaits.

We always catch her in plenty of time, but Penny thoroughly enjoys the chase; she even turns around halfway to make sure one of us is in pursuit.

Penny has also taken advantage of the added space to hone her home decorating skills. Any time we clean up her toys ... so many toys ... she will immediately proceed to the toy box in the corner, grab anything in sight and toss it over her shoulder, like a prospector desperately scrounging for a nugget of gold in a mine shaft. She doesn’t even play with them, she just scatters them about the floor, making sure that the room is properly Pennified.

We still clean up on a regular basis, but the toys end up taking over the room many days. Penny seems to enjoy it — what 11-month-old wouldn’t want her Spanish-speaking trumpet within arm’s reach? — so we figure it’s good for her.

I am the bigger offender, as it’s usually at my wife’s encouraging that I straighten the room up. I know it’s the right thing to do — Penny is old enough to begin picking things up from us now, so setting a good example is vital — but I just as often try to crawl through her giant plastic house or dance along to her singing bear as she does, so I’m more apt to let lying stuffed dogs lie.

We do what we can with the rest of the house; nothing is really any worse than before Penny arrived, and we’re slowly making progress toward having the house as we actually want it. Keeping the momentum is tough with Penny’s frequent acquisitions from family members — it seems she has another lady bug costume or princess-themed place setting on the dining room table every time I come home —but keeping clean is the right thing to do.

But still, seeing the work that’s left to be done can’t help but sometimes make you feel azul ... err, I mean blue.

This is a war that we can’t let Penny win, although she’s only going to fight harder as the months pass — not to mention the reinforcements coming in January. Setting aside some time each day to clean is the best way to tackle it, no mater how little energy you have as the sun sets.

First thing first, though. I have the elephant’s butt, where’d his torso go?

•••

These bright, shining faces are the only ones you’ll see in this space for a while.

Jill Keppeler began maternity leave this past week to tend to her second child, who was due Monday.

In the meantime, I will fill in during her 12-week absence. Enjoy!

Contact editor Paul Laneat 693-1000, ext. 116,or lanep@gnnewspaper.com.

        

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