Dad's helper

I have the great fortune to be at home most of the day with Conner. He and I do a lot of stuff in and out of the house. This afternoon, he and I cleaned the gutters. Usually it's just me, the ladder and him talking to me. Today was a little different. I was on the roof, in the back of the house, cleaning the gutters and sweeping off the shingles. This section of the roof is easily walked on, and I can see the whole backyard while he plays. It takes about 10 minutes. After I finished, I turned around and Conner was on the roof. It seems that a 4-year-old can scale a ladder without much noise. In order to not scare him, I just said "Hi." Make no mistake, I was scared enough for both of us. He replied, "I'm here to help." I told him that I was finished, but he was not having it. He wanted to help, and I was not interested in a blue-balled hissy-fit 15 feet off the ground. I told him he had to sit on his butt to clean out the gutter, and I held on to his pants with all I had. We cleaned a leaf or two out of the gutters. It seemed to pacify him, and he was ready to get down. I went first, and he very effortlessly got on the ladder and climbed down in front of me. When we got on the ground, I told him not to do that again. He replied, "It's not a problem. I got up and I got down." From this day forward, cleaning the gutters will have to involve at least two adults on site.