It is official, I am forcing my daughter into child labor. Its true. She now has a chore that ONLY SHE is responsible for. She is in charge of putting the silverware away from the dishwasher. I'm kinda proud of myself for sticking to something that is not convenient, but will give my girl character.
It works like this. Every time I put a load of dishes in to wash, when I unload the dishwasher I put the silverware (minus knives) on the counter so she can reach. She has to stand on a stool to do it. Then She-She does her chore while I put the rest of the dishes away. It has a nice feeling of team work to it :).
And she does a really good job. Usually she doesn't even complain. It should only take 3 or 4 minutes, but she usually drags it out to 10 or 15 minutes. Most of that time is spent making "flower" bouquets out of forks, pretending like spoons are lollipops, and making the knives carry on conversations with each other. This is a typical example of how she lives life, though. She goes at her leisure with any task, or any play, taking her sweet time, never in a hurry. She even WALKS like this-smelling the roses, greeting the butterflies- its cute but a leeeetle exasperating when I want to get somewhere fast.
Lets face it- it would be much easier if I did it myself. No getting the stool, getting She-She, sorting the silverware for knives, making sure she gets started. But its the moral of it, right? All you out there in blog-land, do you have your (3 year old) child do chores or clean up after themselves consistently? I have to admit, I am very lenient when it comes to putting toys away, picking up clothes, or making beds. But, this seems easier because there is a set task, way to do it, and a time and place to do it. So good job to her and me. We make a great team.
Do you see that little blond head at the bottom of the picture?
Bigdog likes to help too. His job is to open all the other drawers and pull out bibs, ziplock bags, and aprons. He is good at it.
5 comments:
Cute! That is the only way I can get the rest of the dishes put away. Cambria is way too interested in "helping" (read: stacking the dishes into various towers) if she doesn't have the silverware. But, I'm not consistent. Good for you!
Elaine, so glad I found your blog! It is so nice to hear someone else going through the same stages. From little man helping me with the silverware (it takes a good 20 minutes most of the time for us too), Never-eva ironing, and the problems with woodfloors and kids, I'm right there with ya! Thanks for sharing!
- Katie (Sean's cousin)
It's so nice when they can actually be helpful. When Natalie was about 2 she realized where the silverware went. She always wanted to help with the dishes so she would open the drawer, walk to the dishwasher, grab a handful of silverware and toss it into the drawer. She was too short to see what she was doing, and too little to sort it out anyway so it ended up as a big mess. But it actually was helpful because it was already in the drawer and I just had to sort it real quick. Now she is old enough and tall enought to do the whole thing by herself...and I really don't like putting away the silverware...so your blog has inspired me! And if Natalie protests, I will just tell her its your fault. :)
You're such a good mom!!!I think it's important that kids have some reponsibility. Ava is only 2 but she helps me make the beds, do the dishes, dust, fold laundry, etc. If I'm doing a chore, she does her own little version of the chore. Half the time it does make more work for me, but I know she enjoys helping. Way to go!
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