Sucking up to the vacuum

I've posted before about WCK's big fear of the vacuum cleaner. A long time ago, she was also afraid of my blow drier. I solved the problem by buying her a teeny tiny pink Disney princess blow drier of her own. This went over very well. Whenever I would dry my hair, she'd stand behind me with her little pink drier and "dry" her own hair, and everything was fine. Now she's gotten used to the big blow drier and doesn't really care.

I thought a similar thing might work with the vacuum. For Christmas, my mom bought WCK a little tiny Hoover Wind Tunnel vacuum. It looks EXACTLY like our real vacuum, only it's about two feet high. Supposedly, if you put some batteries in it, it will make "realistic vacuum noises" and will really pick up dirt. I was excited about the new little vacuum, but WCK was not. She was less than enthusiastic when she opened one of her Christmas presents and found a tiny version of her arch enemy.

"How 'bout a different present?" she said.

When we got home from my parents' house, she demanded that we banish the little vacuum to the closet. She never wanted to see it again.

The vacuum sat in the closet for months. Then, about a week ago, she asked if we could take the little vacuum out of the closet. She didn't want to take it out of the box, or even touch it, but she really wanted to look at it. She was really interested in the fact that there was a little picture of a tornado on the front, "Just like in Wiz Oz!" The tiny-vacuum-in-a-box sat in a corner for several days until the other morning, when she asked if we could take it out of the box. Again, we had to look at it for a while until she worked up the nerve to touch it. Now? It is her FAVORITE. TOY. EVER. She loves to push it around and attach the little tools to the hose. Granted, we have not tried the batteries or the "realistic" noises, but this is huge progress.

And that's not all. Yesterday, she asked me if we could get MOMMY'S vacuum out of the closet. That's right: She wanted the big vacuum. Suddenly she was claiming to "loooooove" the big vacuum, giving the big vacuum hugs and kisses, talking to it, and posing for photos with it. Before her nap yesterday, she had to say goodnight to the vacuum before she would go into her room. If we go upstairs to play, we have to carry the vacuum up there with us. Back downstairs? Bring the vacuum back down.

WCK and the vacuum are in love. They might be getting married soon.

As much as I thought I wanted a WCK-vacuum romance, I'm wondering if I'm really ready for this. If she begins loving the vacuum, I'll no longer have an excuse to not clean the house. I'll actually have to be a hard-working MOMS Club VP and stay late at the meetings and help clean up. Right now, WCK and I usually have to make a mad dash toward the exit when cleanup begins, because there's usually at least one vacuum involved, sometimes an industrial-strength one that is extra scary. I get out of all the work because of my hysterical child. What to do? What to do?

Now that we know that this works, though, I think I'll go out and buy a toy ironing board so I can finally wear some wrinkle-free clothing for a change.