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I'll admit it, I was being a pain. But I think I was justified. I mean, part of Mommy's job description is to keep me occupied with interesting activities, is it not? And if she fails to live up to this expectation, that I am responsible for coming up with interesting activities on my own. And she has no right to complain if what I decide is interesting is the act of hanging on her pantleg and screeching for minutes at a time. Don't write it off until you try it, by the way; it really does pass the time! Anyway, I was making it clear that Mommy needed to come up with an activity that she could be happy with. She suggested that I help her bake some cookies.
When I was positioned the in kitchen in my high chair, however, I realized that I was only "helping" in a nominal sense. (I was helping in that I wasn't hanging on her leg screeching, which made it easier for her to bake.) She figured out pretty quickly that there weren't many (any) parts of the cooking baking process that I could actually do. But she wanted to give me something to do in the kitchen in my chair. I'm so glad I didn't have to bake cookies, because what she gave me to do was GREAT! I was put completely in charge of the following: a cup or so of dried pasta (whole wheat organic penne, by the way), a couple of Gladware bowls, and a 1/4 cup measuring scoop. This array of exciting props kept me occupied in my chair for at least 30 minutes. When I became a little restless, the addition of a little fusili to spice things up bought Mommy another half hour or so. Finally, I was done in the chair, so Mommy thought it would be fun for me to Swiffer up what I'd spilled. Turns out, it was more fun to Swiffer the rug in the dining room, but that didn't seem to bother her. Ultimately, I ended up back in the kitchen. Seeing all the pasta on the floor gave me a whole new perspective - one good for another hour or so of independent play...particularly since I was able to access the tupperware drawer so I had unlimited pouring, receiving, and scooping vessels. What a DAY! Mommy was worried when I was already bored by 8:30 am, but the pasta party kept me happy pretty much all the way until lunch. Hooray!