Closing

[caption id="attachment_4391" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Lotta wears "bob" on her head."][/caption]

Ellie had a fixation with drawers and cabinets(just like my Aunt Linda.  I say this because when we sent out an engagement photo there was a cabinet door open in the background which we failed to notice.  If only Aunt Linda had taken the photo, the door definately would have been closed.)    Ellie absolutely positively could not stand if a drawer or cabinet was left open, not even for a minute.  If I went to retrieve a washcloth for her while she was in the bath tub, turning around to hand it to her, she would beg me to close the opened drawer.  Even if a dresser drawer was only opened slightly, Ellie would come into the bedroom, making sure every single drawer was closed completely.  She felt more comfortable, more peaceful if she had accomplished this task.

Mrs. Zwart utilized this talent brilliantly at school.  Ellie's job every day was to walk down the hall closing locker doors.  Mrs. Zwart said she actually had to put a limit to it, otherwise Ellie would've chosen to spend the entire school day closing lockers.  When Ellie was finished with the task, Mrs. Zwart would say, "What would we do without you?"  Ellie would respond  with a shrug, "I don't know," as if to say, "Man this place would be a MESS without me."

Lotta apparently has the same gene.  Even at 17 months old, she quickly closes all open drawers and cabinets.  If I have neglectfully left a drawer or cabinet door open, Lotta will wander around the house busily closing anything ajar. That is unless she is trying to release the contents in the cabinet or drawer.

One day, we heard Lotta scream from where the bathroom where she had been playing.  When Thom raced into the bathroom, the stepstool Lotta had been standing on had slipped and she was hanging off of an open drawer.  Maybe she learned the dangers that day of opened drawers and now works to keep them at bay.