When Marcus was first born someone gave me a book about teaching children to work. I read it while I nursed Marcus and I liked it so much that I convinced Tim to read it. If anyone's really interested I'll post the title later (the book is currently in the room Marcus is napping in). Tim and I agree that our kids will have responsibilities and chores--things that are expected of them as members of the family. I don't believe a child should get allowance to help with what needs to be done like dishes, cleaning room, taking out the trash etc. but we think we'll do allowance for the extras (the non-daily's) like washing the car, mowing the lawn, sweeping out the garage or other things like that.
Anyway, that's all really beside my point here which is that the author of this nameless book talked about how even little kids can learn how to work. In fact, little kids WANT to help with the chores. And by little I mean as young as 18-months-old maybe even younger. Marcus loves to help us unload the dishwasher. He does the silverware because it all goes in one drawer and he takes each fork, spoon, and knife over to that drawer one by one and I'm serious, he is beaming and his chest is all puffed out by the time he is finished. He also loves to help me sweep and mop and while he doesn't like the vacuum and insists on sitting in his chair while I vacuum, he is more than happy to help me put it away.
Yesterday, when we got home from grocery shopping I was trying to get the groceries put away as fast as I could because it was almost dinnertime and Marcus was whining and pulling on my legs. Finally, a lightbulb popped over my head, and I took the bag filled with the yogurts, cheese, deli meats etc. and I showed him what shelf to put it on and he went to work emptying that bag. Then I showed him a shelf in the pantry where a bag of canned goods could go and he went to work there. THEN he put all the plastic bags in the box we keep them in. It was GREAT! The best part was how thrilled he was to be helping. He was smiling and swinging his arms around like he does when he is happy. He gave me five and I could just tell he was so proud of himself. It was wonderful.
4 comments:
Katie, it is fun to read about Marcus because Will does the exact same things. He gets a bit side tracked when he sees the beaters. Then he has to go to the cupboard and try and put them in the machine. I also like reading your post because I like to see that there is someone that thinks like me. I feel very strongly about letting kids do things on their own and having a responsibility.
What a good mom you are! I will have to keep that in mind when Peter starts crawling...See if he can pick up stuff on the carpet for me.. ha ha. Just kidding, that may be venturing into child labor territory. Thanks for the cute post!
Ann: Thanks!
Adrianne: The beater story is funny. I agree, it is so nice to have "right" thinking friends :) It was great chatting with you the other day. I'm so glad we can stay in touch even though we live in different states.
Megan: Marcus was more than willing to help pick things up off the floor. The only stipulation was that those things went into his mouth :)
If my groceries could get put away faster with a little helper, maybe that's a good reason to have a baby! Hahaha just kiddng everybody. Katie, Marcus is so cute. Even though I've only seen him twice in person, I love him!
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