Oh happy day when your babies can start helping out around the house! Well..learning to anyway! Gotta start somewhere, right?
At first, this “help” is much more messy than if you had done it yourself, but this is where true motherhood can shine as you patiently let your small child make mistakes, get messy, and build character.
Toddlers want to be helpful and feel like they are an important part of the family. As hard as it can be at times when you just quickly want to get something done (though there’s nothing wrong with that), don’t forget about the big picture- that you are training up godly servants.
Some parents are better at letting their children be independent than others…but that’s maybe a control issue that you need to work out with yourself. Besides, you don’t really want your kids to grow up with an entitled attitude that everything in life will just be done for them.
Put aside that OCD and start teaching your kids from small that they are a valuable part of the family who can pull their own weight.
So even though it’s faster and neater and done right when you do them, here are some chores your toddler can do:
- empty the dishwasher
- set/ clear the table
- put away folded laundry into drawers
- pick up dirty laundry and put in hamper
- wipe dry dishes
- pick up toys/books and put away
This is in no way an extensive list and every family does things differently. I’d love to hear what chores you let your toddlers do, and if you also have trouble like I do with letting the baby stage go, and embracing that your baby is now big enough to do things without your help!
