Works For Me Wednesday: Toddler Chores

If you've ever visited my blog before, you know that I have a toddler. Wendy is 19 months old (where did the time go??) and is becoming Mommy's Little Sidekick. She naturally wants to be involved in everything I'm doing, so I've started having her do "chores."

Now, don't call Child Protective Services on me. It's just little stuff, and she really enjoys being a part of things.

1. Putting away toys. That's an obvious place to start. She's good at putting her toys in the basket, or bringing her books to me to put on the shelf. She's been doing this for quite awhile, but we're just now getting to the point that it's routine at naptime & bedtime.

2. Helping bring in the groceries. As I unload the groceries from the back of the van, Wendy gets her own item(s) to bring inside. It's usually something like a box of pasta or roll of paper towels, but it gives her the idea that she should help.

3. Unloading the dishwasher. This is a chore she initiated. She LOVES to help unload the silverware. I make sure her hands are clean, and she hands me the silverware to put in the drawer, one utensil at a time. It's slow, and occasionally the silverware has to be rewashed after she decides to taste it, but it's worth it. And as she hands me each piece she says, "There you go," and I say, "Thank you." So we're practicing language, too.

4. Dusting. We haven't started this yet, but it's next on the list. We don't really have any breakables within her reach, so she should be able to "dust" the coffee table & end tables in our living room pretty easily.

These are some things that work for us, so far. For more helpful tips, go to Works For Me Wednesday at Rocks in my Dryer!