Big Helper Series: Cleaning

Atticus has become my big helper. That's what I tell him. When he was very little he would pick up little things off the floor that I didn't want him to have and he would hand them to me. I wanted to encourage this behavior, specifically the not putting these found objects in his mouth part, and so I would say "thank you, that is so helpful!" Pretty soon he was handing me things and saying "helpful."

He is learning to be helpful in other ways now too. Which jobs he does has been led largely by what he takes an interest in. I try to pay attention and quickly find a way for him to participate in household chores as much as possible. It takes some work sometimes, but frequently the payoff of a toddler engaged in a task for even a minute can be huge.

This is the first part of a series I'll be doing on my big helper. This first installment is about cleaning. It's really the first way he started engaging in the work of our home. His first job he tackled was cleaning his high chair tray. As you can imagine, he learned by watching me and was overjoyed to be given a chance to imitate me.

Here he is dusting. This was our old tv, for a while he got really dedicated to keeping our new tv dusted. (This video also features our office mid-organization, so please excuse the mess. It's not done yet, but it sure doesn't look like this!)

Mopping and quite on the move.

Vacuuming. He also likes to take this vacuum apart and put it back together and usually forgets the filter.

While setting his table (with real stoneware and glass dishes) for us to have a snack, he spilled some milk. No problem! He ran to the kitchen where he got a rag from the rag box, came back to the living room and cleaned up his mess, then put the rag in the laundry basket in the dining room.

Here he is sorting silverware. For now he just sorts by type and not size. We just started this back up again. We made an earlier attempt about a month or so ago and he started running off, fork in hand, tines up. Not okay. He's been more responsible about it this time around. Obviously this is a great sorting activity and I don't have to scrounge up anything to make it happen!

On that note, he has also been helping me unload the dishwasher in other ways for several months now. He puts things on his shelf (like his bowls, cups, and spoons) and in his cupboard (particularly the wooden spoons and citrus juicer). I take the plates and bowls out of the dishwasher, stack them and bring them into the dining room. Then Atticus hands them to me one by one and I put them away in the buffet. Afterward he gets to close the cabinet door. It has become a good routine for us. A little after breakfast I just have to shout that I need help and Atticus comes running to help unload the dishwasher.

It's funny, as much as having a toddler makes everything more complicated and exhausting, it can also provide many motivations to get the housework done!

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