Getting your kids involved in the family and home life is a long game, but it leads to an eventual win-win in the day to day and long term advancements for your children.
As a parent, you have a million things on your mind and a to-do list that never ends but instead constantly refreshes. Wouldn’t it be nice to have an extra pair of helping hands around the house? Well, there are some tiny hands around that, with guidance, reassurance, and repetition, can be a great help.
Enlisting the help of your toddlers (yes, toddlers) and kids is not a new concept. In fact, it’s a quite old concept. Families used to have many children for the simple fact that there was lots of work to be done and more help was needed. Know anyone who grew up on a farm? Chances are, they have a good amount of siblings. We can take this aged wisdom, update it for the 21st century, and make great use of it!
The benefits are threefold. One, you get extra help (it’s going to be more work than help in the beginning but bear with me). Two, it’s going to help your toddler mature into a responsible human with ownership and basic skills. Three, it provides quality time with your kids.
When Fox was barely walking, he wanted to help with laundry. Obviously, he had no idea what laundry was or what helping was. He wanted to do what Mommy and Daddy were doing. So when we would move the clothes from the washer to the drier or the drier to the basket, he would come over and help push the clothes in or pull them out. To him it was just fun but he was lending us a teeny sized helping hand.
We also taught him to put his clothes in the hamper when changing in or out of pajamas. Big help! How many times a day do you pick kid clothes up off the floor and throw them in the hamper? A one year old can do that.
As he’s gotten older, we’ve found ways to include Fox more in the household chores. He picks up his toys (sometimes this takes lots of convincing but this one is very important!) He also became very interested in me cooking dinner. As soon as I would get to work, he would want to watch. There would also be days that he would want a lot of attention while I’m trying to prepare a meal. Solution: get his help! Now we’re spending quality time together so he’s getting the attention he wants and he’s chopping up cucumbers for the salad so one less task for me!
I’m not going to pretend he’s a mini Gordon Ramsey but I can eat a cucumber that’s been hacked at just as easily as I can eat a cucumber that’s been expertly sliced. I actually started him out on cutting scraps. If I had some romaine leaves that were brown, instead of throwing them away, he could cut them up. This way he could get some practice in and we weren’t eating lettuce that had been torn to a pulp.
Okay wait back WAY up! Even before that, he would just place his hand on top of my hand when I was cutting vegetables. It’s all coming back to me now. It was quite a process! But now he helps me assemble the salad and it’s a true win-win.
Kids want to feel involved and included just like anyone else. Turn your exasperation into opportunity and find a way to get your kiddos in on the action. Just remember, baby steps! A hand on yours while you stir, they’re own little bowl they can stir, then, eventually, helping stir the batter himself.
Let me know what ways your kids get involved. I’ll ask include some links* below for our favorite tools for kids in the kitchen.
Kitchen tower to reach counters
*some of these are affiliate links and I may earn a small commission if you purchase. I only link items we use and love and I highly recommend.
