Stoop labor

Sunday, Debbie needed some raw peanuts shelled and peeled. The girls enthusiastically embraced the idea of helping shell peanuts, so the three of us sat on the front porch and developed a great division of labor for shelling the peanuts. At first, Julia cracked and shelled, I cracked and handed peanuts to Lily for shelling, and I peeled the peanuts that both girls shelled. Soon Lily discovered accidentally that she could crack the peanuts if she stepped on them, so our assembly line became much more efficient. Then Lily discovered that she could jump on the peanuts and get the same result (Julia then discovered that she could do this barefoot), so our assembly line became more amusing to all three (the added amusement for me being watching Lily's intense concentration as she aimed for so small a target as a peanut and seeing where she would actually land). Throughout it all I was just chuckling over, and giving thanks for, the eagerness, intensity, and persistence of these two over such a menial task. Who needs Backyardigans videos or Nintendo Wii when you've got kitchen prep or yard work to do? (Though Nintendo has a cooking game for the Wii system, called "Cooking Mama: Cook Off for Wii", so I suppose it won't be long until they come out with "Stoop Labor for Sony Playstation")