“I have no time to do anything with them!” - Perhaps this is the most common complaint of mothers who try to cook dinner, and tidy up the room, and keep an eye out for excessively energetic children. And if you try to attract ... a child to help with household chores? I tell you how this happens with us.
Of course, I understand that a two-year-old child will not be able to do housework on an equal basis with an adult. He cannot cook soup, wash dishes or rub the sink to a shine. But among household chores, there are likely to be those with which even a two-year-old will cope. So why not entrust their implementation to the child?
- Pull the dishes out of the dishwasher. My child began to do this at a year and a half. At first I cleaned the glassware myself, leaving my son with only plastic bowls and containers. A little later, he began to pull out mugs, then plates. Now the only taboo for him is knives. The son carefully arranges the dishes in the lower cabinet, because he has not yet reached the upper shelves.
- Wipe the dust. Everything is simple here - I give the child a slightly damp microfiber cloth and show where to clean. The most important thing is to redirect the baby to other places of dust accumulation in time, otherwise he may rub the same bedside table for a long time and hard.
- Vacuum. It is not as difficult as it seems. At least it’s certainly easier than sweeping the floor (in our case, place all the garbage in the corners). While my son carefully vacuuming the carpet in the corridor, I manage to wash the floor in the kitchen.
- Wipe the puddles behind you. Of course, this is not about those puddles that remain on the floor when the child did not have time to run to the pot. But if my son spilled tea or juice on the floor, I give him a napkin and he eliminates the consequences of his carelessness. At first I showed him how to wipe puddles off the floor, and now he copes with this task perfectly without outside help. And she claps her hands joyfully when she receives praise from me.
- Throw trash into the bin. I drink coffee with sweets - my son throws out wrappers. Beauty! Just be sure to ensure that along with the garbage in the bucket there are no necessary things - mother’s cosmetics, for example, or father’s documents.
- Feed the cat. Of course, it would be easier to pour dry food into a bowl, but I teach my son to take care of our pet. Therefore, a bag of food is on our floor, and the child puts it in a bowl with his hands. And by the way, it perfectly develops fine motor skills!
- Unload the washing machine. I hang the laundry on the dryer in the room, and my son brings clean t-shirts, shorts or socks from the bathroom - one thing at a time. Until he realized that you could take several at once.And it's good, because, having run up before going to bed, he falls asleep faster and easier.
- Peel boiled eggs or potatoes. So far, there are only two products in our arsenal, because I do not know what else can be cleaned without using a knife.
- Turn off the hotplate with the kettle. When a boiled kettle whistles in the kitchen, a child with joyful screeches rushes to turn it off. Naturally, under my supervision.
- Disassemble bags with groceries. If you leave the packages in the corridor, the son himself will drag them across the floor to the kitchen and begin to enthusiastically unload pasta, yoghurts, apples ... And he will certainly protest if someone decides to help him - that would be his favorite job!
- Put things in their places. To put dried clothes in a cupboard or to place books on a shelf is not a question! But with toys the situation is a little worse - for some reason, these are the requests the son hears through time.
- Help in the garden. My son loves to water the beds from a small watering can or from a hose. If it’s cool outside, we put on rubber boots and a waterproof suit - and to business!
When I just started to accustom my son to household chores, I did not expect from him any supernatural results. My main goal was to occupy him with something while cooking or cleaning, as well as to slowly accustom him to work and accuracy.
As a result, everyone was satisfied: I had time for basic tasks, and my son had his own household duties, which he fulfills with great pleasure and takes pride in the fact that he was entrusted with real “adult” affairs. It would be nice if his desire to help was not lost over time!
We also read:
- We teach the child to order, or how to raise an assistant
- 40 basic things a child should be able to do at home from the age of 2 to 13
- Why should a child help with household chores
- 9 simple tips on how to teach your child home help
- How to raise responsibility in a child
- 6 ways to motivate a child correctly
Video plot: How to teach a child to do homework
