My Little Helper

So, Andersin has been going through this 'helpful' stage where he's really wanting to take over taking care of Laycie. Last week he began begging me to put her down for her naps--which I was eager to see. It was cute how he held her hand up the stairs, put her in bed, got her pacifier, covered her up, turned on her nightlight (even though it was sunny and bright in her room), and gave her a kiss and a hug before shutting the door. He also has been trying to get her dressed in the mornings too. I guess I must have given him a bit too much praise for being such a good helper, because yesterday he thought he could handle quite a bit more. They came and woke me up in the morning--like they always do--and Andersin asked if I'd open the gate (I have a gate at the top of my stairs that is childproof, so they can't sneak down before me in the mornings). This is how the next 10 min or so went

Me "Okay, let's go have breakfast."
Andersin "No Mom, you look tired; why don't you stay in bed and I'll go take care of Laycie for the day. I'll wake you up after I put her down for her nap later and you can play with me then."
Me "Thanks sweetie, but I'm really fine."
Andersin "No Mom, I don't want you to come; I want to do it all by myself."
Me "Alright, let me open the gate."
Andersin took Laycie's hand and started to go down stairs
Andersin "Mom, go back to bed now."
Obviously I pretended to go back to bed, but when they turned the corner and sat on the steps and anxiously listened to how things would go. I heard dishes shuffling and chairs moving.
Laycie "mumbling something"
Andersin "Laycie, I don't have time to talk right now; I really must clean" (I wonder where he's heard that before."

I realized I actually needed to see what was going on, so after a couple minutes I snuck down the stairs and quickly tiptoed into the front living room to peek around the corner. There I saw Laycie with her bowl and fork sitting in her booster seat about 3 feet away from the table (obviously Andersin underestimated how heavy the chair would be with her in it and couldn't push her in). He had a new box of cereal he was desperately trying to open. He had torn it into about 4 or 5 pieces before he realized the task of opening the bag inside the box would be even trickier. The bag got opened and I cringed a bit as he went to pour some in Laycie's bowl (which by the way I realized later that since the cupboard with the bowls is way higher than he can reach, the only thing he had access to was the dishwasher with dirty bowls in it--oh well, nothing like mixing last night's potatoes and gravy with this morning's cereal). He went to pour it in, making sure the hole in the bag was upside down, and we can all guess the scene that I witnessed. It wouldn't have been so bad had it been frosted flakes or Lucky Charms, which would have just fell and stayed on the table; no he was pouring Trix...hundreds of little balls now rolling all over my dining room table and floor. At this point I decided to make myself known and help him out with the milk pouring--I wasn't ready to watch that. I obviously couldn't let it last too long, but part of me wonders what would have happened had I really gone back to bed.....