"I'LL HELP YOU, DADDY!" - ARE ALWAYS GOOD INTENTIONS, GOOD?

Let's face it: no one says "I'll help you” anymore. Your car won’t start and the neighbour comes over to help with his toolbox? Forget it. Announce that you’re moving and friends show up to help? Yeah, right. So, I'm glad that at least the youngest children are still so idealistic and motivated.

You should at no cost try to curb this desire for action. At no cost? Well maybe today I would slightly change this assertion. But back in those days I just wasn't there yet.

It’s Saturday afternoon and mom is out with the baby. I promised to clean the kitchen and do the laundry.

My two year old son finds out that doing the laundry is a blast: I'll help you, Daddy! Perfect! We’re a team. I divide the laundry and he puts it in the washing machine.

Oh, no! We’re out of detergent. I take him and rush off to Lidl, which, fortunately enough, is five minutes away. And while we’re there, we buy a bunch of flowers to make mom happy for no special reason whatsoever.

Done: the washing machine is going, now onto the kitchen

Put things away, wash the floor, do this and that. My son keeps wanting to help "reorganize" the bottom drawer. There are just pots and some safe food supplies (that I was ignoring). While I'm about to go get the bucket, I'm surprised to find that my socks are wet and then I discover why. Water has leaked from the washer and flooded the hall. Curses. The water is pink. The load of laundry was white. Oh, no! We have hardwood flooring in the hall that really absorbs water. I have to do something. Now. I move everything, mop up the water, clean, check. How could this have happened? I open the washing machine and extract a Matchbox metal tractor from the destroyed seal.

Thank goodness, he wanted to help

The doorbell rings. Mom and baby are at the door and are looking behind me, towards the kitchen. Mouths open. Eyes wide. Even the baby! Can he already see that far? The looks on their faces are telling me that it was a great idea to buy that bunch of flowers at Lidl. I slowly turn my head to follow their horrified looks.

That's why it was so quiet! On the floor next to a 2-year-old child are an empty bottle of sunflower oil and ... (darn!) an empty bottle of truffle oil. But that's not all, my son, in the middle of a sea of oil and flour, is making angels with his arms and legs. Creative. Sweet. Intelligent. Help! No chance of saving this situation.

The wood floor? Fortunately, we do not have it in the kitchen. Darn, we have terracotta tiles! A stain in the shape of a little angel will memorialise "I’ll help you, Daddy!" for a long time!