Is there another version of the word to help I’m aware of?

[Parker1970]

what does the word help mean when it is in quotation mark for example, my son loves to help bring in the groceries. So why would one say help while someone else might say “Help”? Another example might be that my daughter really likes you to help us cook, or help us at the table. So why is one version of the word used over the other? Do you use this when you talk about your kids?

Normally when written “help” it is implying that they think they’re helping but are not really!

“Help” they think they are helping but they are in-fact doing the opposite.

’Help’ in this case is quite endearing. It means they think they are helping.. and you aren’t going to tell them otherwise 😂

I mean both of my kids seem to help out with everything we do. What do you mean? Do your kids help out?

Eg bringing in one or two things but stopping along the way/ getting distracted/ dropping stuff/ eating some of it(!)

What age are your kids?

Mine likes to help me hang out the washing - except she can’t reach the washing line so what has to happen is I hold her up with one arm, garment with the other and sort of throw the garment at the line any which way, what with only having one arm free, and she gets a couple of pegs on which takes an absolute age. Now she’s a bit bigger she can stand on a garden chair and I hold the item and she puts the pegs on then she climbs down, we move the chair along an inch and we repeat the process. Either way it takes about ten times longer than it would have done by myself, hence “helping”. If we were hanging on the maiden she’d chuck anything anywhere and I’d have to straighten it all out later, so again “helping” (though bit by bit I’m obviously modelling how we shake them out and spread them so they’ll dry properly etc)

If she wants to help me cook, which again is often, I have to put a bit more conscious thought into which bits of the preparation I can safely involve her in, what she can manage by herself, what I’ll need to show her or watch her closely, which utensils I’ll have to get out in advance as the place where she stands on her step is right in front of that drawer. When she was younger I had to stop her shoving most of it in her mouth before it got anywhere near the meal, and stop her from randomly deciding to tip the contents of the coffee jar into the eggs id left her whisking because I’d accidentally left it in reach. So yes, in her mind she’s helping me cook - and I’m happy because I like to involve her and she’s learning - but realistically I could have made the meal a lot more quickly and easily without her there. So “helping”.

Yes "help" is trying to help but not really.

Imagine "helping" with the washing up, but leaving smears and dropping a glass so it shatters all over the floor. So now you need to rewash things and also clear up the broken glass.

My son has "helped" for a long time. It's only now he's five that he actually helps.

It's very cute when they "help" and feel all proud and grown up, as well as being good for them, it just isn't helpful.

For when they are trying to help you and its so sweet but they are in fact more of a hindrance.

Is this question specifically about the word help? Putting things in quotes, either written or air quotes generally denotes that the word is being used sarcastically or ironically. It's no more sophisticated than that.

(Also, why is this in Child Mental Health?)

And is it actually helpful? If so, then they are helping. If no, they are “helping”. It’s sarcasm.

Sometimes DH 'helps' with dinner. I say 'helps' because he often needs me to suggest what he should cook, then remind him how long such and such takes to cook, then remind him what temperature that goes on, then suggest what order he should cook things so that it's all ready in time. It's just not his thing. His 'helping' takes more effort and time from me than if I just get on with cooking it.

At other times DH helps by cooking dinner because he's chosen a dish that he is skilled at cooking and can do it without my input.

I find this quite an unusual question OP. Are you neurodivergent?