Chores

Michael is getting so good at doing chores. He can load silverware, plates, and cups in to the dishwasher and can clean up most of the entire living room and his room. Now I do need to say that he is no where near fast at it or perfect. When he cleans up toys, he is easily distracted and plays with each toy before putting it away. And after he puts away silverware, I have to go through and resort the soup spoons from the regular ones. But he is getting in the habit of doing chores and that is the important thing. In addition, of course, we have the usual "I don't want to" and "I'm too tired" that any parent probably gets. I usually just repeat the instruction and Michael knows that I'll follow through and make him complete the task no matter what.

Today I just realized that Jonathan is getting old enough to start teaching him to help with the chores too! You may be saying, wait, I'm keeping track and he's only 10 months old?! Yes, I know. But that is the perfect age for me to start teaching him about putting toys back in the buckets. He is so good at emptying them, so why not teach him to fill them too. I start by just taking his hand in mine and helping him to pick up a couple toys - that's it at first. Later we can move to cheering for him to pick them up on his own. :)