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Compassion

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

TOTally Working for Me ~ Cleaning Help


The lesson from Get Real With God: The Little Red Hen about allowing your kids to help was a good reminder for me. My son, David, likes to take the broom from me and help me sweep, even if it's in the opposite direction of where I just swept. It has been getting easier for me to just let it go and realize that he thinks he is being helpful and is trying to learn what I am doing by imitating me.

That is after all how toddlers learn, by imitating what we do.

If he starts getting too messy I hand him the Swiffer instead or just switch with him if he still wants the broom. I have been trying to show him how to hold the dust pan for me but he doesn't quite get it yet. When he grabs the Swiffer, I make sure it has a clean cloth on it and then I do actually get a little bit of actual help! To make your Swiffer a little more toddler-friendly and easier for little hands to manage, you can remove one of the screwed-in parts of the handle easily.

Above all I give him encouragement and praise for trying to help instead of acting like he's doing something wrong.

This TOTally Working for Me post was written by Amy, you can visit her at her family weblog here. Thanks Amy for sharing this idea!

Do you have something that is working for you and your tot? We'd love to hear about it!

4 comments:

The Aday Family said...

I do that all the time. When I need to dust, vacuum, or sweep, I ask my tot to "help Momma." He then follows me around while I vacuum, or plays withe broom when I'm done, or uses the feather duster while I really dust. It keeps him occupied and engaged in learning how to take care of a home.

Jolanthe said...

Oooo - I forgot about the duster. :) My kids love to do that too - or use a sock on their hand to go around the house.

Laura said...

AMEN! I love the help! Even wearing socks helps clean the floors, huh? Our tot uses the sweeper from smallhands.com. You can find it here: http://www.forsmallhands.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=72_87_904

Though, I'm really looking forward to getting her a DustBuster for her fourth birthday (or MY next birthday). I've just gotta be sure she won't be sucking up my jewelry, second daughter, or money!

Mozi Esme said...

This looks like my girl! She always commandeers the broom when I start to sweep (and we only have one broom here in the US, so sweeping gets done during naps) - and actually does get some rubbish in when holding the dustpan... She does great with a wet cloth on the floor, though.