After having Mac help me with some household chores the last few days, I just wanted to quickly remind everyone that a toddler helping you isn’t helpful. What I mean is that asking a toddler to help you do a chore isn’t going to speed it along and get the job done. You have a toddler help for three reasons: future practice, interest and getting things done. If you need a few ideas, read my post about Four Simple Ways Toddlers Can Help Clean Up.

Future Practice

Now, obviously we all want children who pitch in and help keep the house running. You live here, you take care of it. But parents tend to make the mistake of requiring children to do chores when they are older, instead of right away. Having toddlers help (or “help” as it should maybe be phrased) sets them up to doing more in the future. If you expect them to carry their dishes to the sink as a toddler, it becomes a habit. As long as you start small, you can build up as their skills increase.

In the picture above, Mac was taking the clean socks and putting them in that box. Did I really need socks in a box? No, I did not need socks in a box. (Whoa there Dr. Seuss.) But did she enjoy helping? Yes, and she even put the socks in the basket when I was filling it back up with folded laundry. As Mac grows, I’ll have her start with something easy like stacking washcloths and we will work up from there.

Interest

Toddlers always seem to be in the way, right? Guess why? Because they are interested in what you are doing! Like I’ve said before, everything in the world is new and novel to them. Folding underwear might be another boring task that adults have to do, but to toddlers it is a new, fun activity.

This ties back into the last point. While they are interested, sow the seed of a routine. When people come into our Montessori toddler room, they are amazed to see toddlers washing their dishes and putting them away after snack or putting dirty laundry in the laundry basket. They do these things because we set up a routine.

One quick note, you are not going to have a ton of success with a toddler who does not have their sense of order yet. A toddler’s sense of order is the reason they cry if you cut their sandwich in triangles instead of squares or put their shoes in the wrong spot in the closet. Good news, they aren’t crazy. They just have incredibly specific ideas about how the world is supposed to be ordered. Bad news, until they get to that point, they just won’t get organization. Like at all.

Getting Things Done

Sometimes, the three loads of laundry sitting around your living room in unfolded piles call to you. And you finally have to actually fold them and put them away. And you need a certain toddler to stop knocking down all of your piles. So out of desperation to just finish your job, you have them help you. And it works!

When I gave Mac socks to put in a box, she actually sat and was totally absorbed in putting socks in the box for a good 5 minutes, which was plenty of time for me to quickly fold the laundry that had accumulated.

So here is a list of things I have Mac (who is almost 15 months) do with me:

• “Organize” laundry
• Carry things (pee diapers for the diaper pail, snack to the table, chalk to play outside etc.)
• Put dishes in the dishwasher
• Bring me things
• Open and close cupboard doors or drawers

What sorts of thing does your toddler help you with?