Monday, October 20

Helping Mama...

I found a great website that lists some of the things that children can do to help their parents at different ages. I printed up one for our two year old and one for our ten month old (though he is not even close to being able to do what they suggest!). I put them up on the fridge for easy referral so that I can continually remind myself to direct our daughter to help me throughout the day. She seems to enjoy her little jobs quite a bit and I love the idea of everyone working together to make our home life beautiful!

How do you handle chores in your home?

6 comments:

Courtney said...

Whatever I'm doing, I try to find small ways DS can help me. We cleaned the bathroom this morning and he pushed the swiffer around, helped scrub the shower, then helped me change the garbage. He was also in charge of baby entertainment. ;-) That's usually how it goes. I haven't "assigned" him anything yet that is strictly his job. I'm not sure when I'll do that. For example, he's capable of emptying and flatware from the dishwasher, sorting it, and putting it in the drawer and he often helps, but I'm not sure he's ready for that to be mostly or all his respnsibility. The spontaneity of helping seems to work for both of us now, so we'll probably keep doing that. I am going to print the list, though, and post it for easy reference next to our daily rhythms and lesson plans.

Courtney said...

Okay, I looked at the list more closely and I guess there are things that he does that are 100% his responsilbity with only small reminders and a little help: putting shoes and coat away, using the potty, washing hands, brushing teeth, keeping his room neat (but I make the bed), picking up the playroom and putting toys and books in their proper location, etc. Actually he has helped me with everything on that list except maybe bringing groceries in from the car-- he's usually asleep! He does very well following directions and sticking to our routine unless he's hungry, tired, or feeling especially silly. The last case requires silliness back on my part and then he's back on track!

These are long comments. I should have just emailed you, or written my own post!

Dianna said...

What a great reminder. Sometimes I don't let my son help because he slows me down, but I guess there are more important things in life. Thanks for the great link.

positivechaos said...

Thank you so much for posting this. This is so fabulous and i have been wanting to start implementing this in my home.

This is my first time commenting but i have been reading your blog for a few months...i enjoy it very much:)
www.positivechaos.wordpress.com

Michelle said...

I wish she had mentioned how to get them to do it without whining! :-)

Angela said...

Lately, my five year-old has taken to cleaning up messes quickly and quietly, without alerting me first - and she does a GREAT job (as in, "mom! i spilled my milk!" or "mom, the dog tracked in muddy footprints on the kitchen floor!"). the only evidence is that i hear her clamboring around in the cleaning cabinet for supplies, and then a few minutes later the clunk of the laundry hamper lid when she puts the rags in.

and the best thing is how much pride she takes in being able to "just handle it" by herself.

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