It's been a while since I've done a works for me Wednesday, partly because I forget and partly because I don't have that many "great" ideas to share.
This morning, however, Lucy was helping feed Millie and I thought ah ha, the perfect WFMW! So I grabbed my handy-dandy camera snapped a couple shots and here you have it.
Toddlers and chores.
We have a lot of work to do in our house. And we're not always good at it, although it seems like we put a lot of time, energy and effort into it. I need a live in FlyLady I guess!
Of all the kids Lucy is the one who loves to help the most.
Here she is sweeping the floor after she put the dog food in the bowl.
She can pull our little rolling cart of dog food out of the pantry all by herself, and she can scoop it into the bowl. This works great until it gets about half way down, then she can't reach any more. At that point brother can and at the end someone big has feed her.
My tip is to find ways to make chores manageable for kids and then they can help you. The rolling dog food holder is one.
Lucy also loves to put her diapers in the trash, hand me stuff when I'm unloading the dishwasher (admittedly not all that helpful but it's the learning process that we're after). She can pick up trash, put toys in their bins, bring me books, get TP out of the closet and take it to a stranded sibling, carry in light groceries from the car when we are all shleping back and forth, put pool toys in the outside seat, take her dirty clothes to the hamper and clear her plate to the kitchen after dinner. There are lots of things little ones can do.
14 comments:
It's so important to get kids involved from an early age. I agree!
Absolutely adorable pics by the way, love the little pigtails!
What a cute little Lucy! Good thing you have her to help stranded people in the bathroom!!
I was never able to train the dog to fetch the newspaper, but it's just the perfect task for a toddler. They get to think they are independent by waking outside by themselves (but really being watched from the doorway) and I don't have to go outside in my pajamas.
It always makes me smile when my little ones help. It amazes me how when they get big enough to be able to really do much, they also lose that interest in helping. Darn!
What a little cutie you have!
So cute! What a good little helper! Great ideas too!
That's a great suggestion to make the chores a easier for little ones. I love it when they're small because they think it's fun to help out.
Your little girl is so cute! :)
GREAT tip! Thanks for sharing. Your little one is so cute! =)
My 3-year helps me feed my 1-year old. I mix the milk, he gives it to him. When my 1-year old is done, my 3-year old gets the bottle and puts it in the kitchen sink.
Lovely, huh?
My 3-year old also feeds my 1-year popsicle, though.
Mike
http://somethingaboutparenting.typepad.com/
Hello - I found your site through Rocks in My Dryer... I have twin almost-toddlers so "toddler chores" is an interesting subject! I like what you said about it being the idea of helping that you're after, not expecting a whole of efficiency - good to keep in mind!
SeaBird
Cute pics! I have Evan "help" me with the chores too. He puts his own clothing into the laundry basket, puts away his bath toys and many other things. My reason for doing it is I wam trying to brain wash him into thinking cores are fun.
My 2-y.o. is a big helper. She almost always helps any way I ask her to (fetching, helping put things away, entertaining her sister while I go to the bathroom, etc.), volunteers to help with other things (she'll pick up the broom or carpet sweeper and start trying to clean; sometimes she gets some dirt up, even, she always asks for a "towel" to clean up her own spills, and if the baby is fussy she will kiss her, play peekaboo, bring her toys or a pacifier, and she loves to have me hand her the laundry from the washer and put it in the dryer, or take things out of the dryer and hand them to me to fold and put in the basket, which saves me from having to bend down with the baby in the sling), but there are those incidents when we have to sing, "Some kind of help is the kind of help that helping's all about, and some kind of help is the kind of help we all could do without!" to vent our feelings...
Ok, feeling guilt! I am so bad about this. I start some new chore program and then it fizzles. I know I need to be more consistent. Thanks for the reminder.
She is such a cutie!!!
My 4yo is also an eager helper - this post is a great reminder to always have a little something that they can help with, to never turn them away, especially when they ask if they can help you. There is always something they can reach, scoop, sweep, smooth, dump, or bring to you. I haven't really organized "regular" chores, but it's so important that even the littlest ones in the house feel like they have a job and contribute to the family's life. Thanks for the reminder!
Lucy is a doll! (And have I ever told you I love her name? My Elsie was very, very nearly a Lucy.)
Elsie, 21 months, has just started using the carpet sweeper and "helping" wash dishes. Both on her own initiative, not mine. It's easy to forget to involve the little ones, especially when there are older, far more reliable ones to get to do it. Thanks for the reminder!
Post a Comment