Decision: How Best to Describe the Helpfulness of a 3 Year Old........

Today I considered how 'helpful' a three year old is (when he's not being a pest, that is). Take eye glasses, for example. Denver likes to try them on and I try not to panic when he has mine (pulling the bows in opposite directions and the like). He puts them on his little face and tries to look at the cat....then he tries to put them ON the cat...and so forth. When I have convinced him that he should bring them to me ('cause if I get up to get them from him, he runs and bangs them against everything in his path, falling on them to hid them from me when he runs out of room to run....been there, done that!)....anyway, he starts to bring them to me and realizes they need to be cleaned. (This part is not for the 'faint of heart' or 'queasy of stomach').....he licks them and rubs them on his clothes.....then he gives them to me....grinning. I am so grateful that he hasn't broken them, I smile back.
Or, how about when I am getting ready for work. Denver thinks that ANY time Aunt 'maris' spends in the bathroom is the time he should be in there too! I have tried to train him that it is not a spectator sport but he begs to differ. So, I either sneak in when he is busy elsewhere, or I run ahead of him, or sometimes he just knows and is waiting for me. That's when I bark "elbows", he turns around, bends his arms, I lift him by his elbows and carry him out of the room, shut the door and lock it while promising him that as soon as I am ready, I will let him know. When I open the door he comes in, climbs up to the sink and we go through a little routine of washing and drying his hands. Then I answer his 'what's that, what's that' questions and we leave together; all the while I am making a point to remind him that the bathroom is not a playroom (again, he begs to differ).