I should pause here to banish any thoughts that you may have that Elise is being held hostage in something akin to Kathie Lee's sweat shop...no we aren't working her like some little slave, but even at 17 months old, she is learning to help and quite frankly she beams when she is praised for completing her "chores."
Right now, Elise helps with the following: opening and closing the dishwasher, loading silverware in the dishwasher basket, putting groceries away in the 2 bins at the bottom of the fridge, throwing away trash during meal prep and cleanup, cleaning up her bath toys each night, setting out silverware and condiments for dinner, and her new favorite - putting Daddy's change in his piggy bank. Most nights the forks and condiments are perched precariously on the edge of the table and we won't be winning any awards for best place settings, but she does it by herself. Giving her small tasks that she can safely accomplish by herself also allows me to get dinner ready or put groceries away and still keep her occupied close by.
So, what do chores look like at your household? What did they look like when you were growing up?
5 comments:
I say just keep having her help out, at this age they love it so much it doesn't need to and I think shouldn't be labeled as chores, really working along side you or your husband and being there to learn and talk with is so much more important. If she just gets used to doing all these things and more as she gets bigger than it will make your life so much easier.
I think the things you have her doing are perfect!
We didn't really get good results with chores until this year. Now it's GREAT!
My sister and I used to fight over who would get to put my dad's change in our change jar every night. It was a HUGE honor. :o)
I think what you've got Elise doing is perfect - it all sounds very age appropriate!
her hair!! oh how cute.
I think much like Sarah that you are on the right track. Ryan is 6 now and is just realizing that he can start doing things for money-- so until then you have FREE help. My girls are doing some of the same.. loading water bottles into the fridge drawers and pushing the laundry basket through the house for me. I keep trying to show them the dog hair tumbleweeds but I think they are refusing to help me with that.. one day it will bug them too.
Oh my! Elise has grown up! My kids helped me get things done so we could go do something fun together. They really do want to spend time with you and getting the chores out of the way helped us do that quicker. She is adorable!
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