A job to do

I've been trying to involve Sara more around the house. She seems to really like being kept busy and feeling useful (Thomas engine reference). So she helps with the laundry, helps entertain Brennan and bring him things, and she does 10 minutes of clean up on her toys every night.

I really think it's so important to teach kids to clean up after themselves, less for the cleaning and more as a lesson that it's important. I've been in a house with little kids where they do not clean up after themselves and they literally drop food and whatever they are wearing, diapers, dirty clothes everywhere. It's like one of those "hoarding" shows except with baby stuff. It's really scary. On the other hand, some houses are neat and tidy (ours isn't) but the Mom does all the cleanup and the kids never learn to do any of it. Then they either grow up thinking the woman is supposed to do it all or they don't have to and they are not responsible for themselves, both are not cool.

I want Sara to learn to be responsible for herself in small doses now so that when she's older she can be self sufficient and she does not expect people to be doing things for her. Also, she thinks it's really fun to help out. She likes to sweep and help out in the kitchen too.

Today we were making a stew and I figured she could help me wash the potatoes. She had a blast doing it, especially because it involved water and she kept thanking me for letting her help. It was a win-win.