Some flowers growing volunteer in one of my mom's wildflower beds. I forget what they're called, but they're sure fun-looking.
A while ago, Mom told me about this TV show where they take people from the jungle somewhere and have them live with upscale rich folks in the US, then get the jungle peoples' reactions.
Well, one of the families they featured had a bunch of kids, and the jungle peoples' reaction was about how the mother did all the work while the kids just goofed off. They said something to the effect of, "The children are not trained to work. We train our children to work from the time that they are babies."
I figure that's a good idea. I've been teaching Alex to put away the silverware every morning when I clean out the dishwasher. Tonight I had him stir the enchilada sauce for me while I made the enchilada filling. I didn't make him stand there for the full 20 minutes or so that the sauce requires, but he did stand there about ten minutes or so, and stirred it very carefully. He did splatter it on the stove a bit, but that's to be expected from a little guy who's almost 3.
So that's been my kid-related project lately. I figure he has so much energy, why not harness it?
3 comments:
It is good to have helpers. I think it give purpose and makes them so happy. No matter how old we get, it is nice to be needed. :)
My kids love to help! I didn't even realize I had an untapped resource until, on a whim, I asked Jackson to put his clean clothes away and he was delighted to do it all! Not so good at folding though...good at UNfolding :) They love to stir and add ingredients while cooking. The hard part of this for me is to allow them to go at their own pace and make childish mistakes. This is good training for Mommy, too.
Melanie loves to help too. Today on the way to preschool we had a good discussion about the ways she helps me. She made the initial comment that went something like "Mommy when I get older I can clean my room" I guess we were listening to a cd where they were talking about children obeying their parents and how it seems like there are so many rules when you are a kid, but in reality those rules teach children to obey their parents and thus God and let them live a long and fruitful life. So, anyway God put it on my heart to make sure she knew at that moment that she does help me, right now at 3 years old. For instance, she had to pick up her toys in the living room and make her bed and set the table and feed the cat and put her dirty clothes in the hamper. She got this look on her face of astonishment - Wow! I can do all those things to help my mommy and make God proud! I could tell her self confidence was being built up and her little spirit was being encouraged! It encouraged me too. I also recently started letting her help me sort dirtly clothes, put them in the basket and then trow the dirty clothes from the basket into the washing machine. She loved that. I keep telling myself that my kiddos will know how to do laundry and cook when they grow up. I am astonished at how many young adults don't know how to do their laundry or cook. I recently heard a statistic at a produce conference that amazed me - 40% of young married couples do not know how to prepare meals for their families, so the grocery industry is marketing to this segment by offering cooking classes at the store. Research says that these adults were raised on prepared snacks thus no cooking when they were young. So, not on my watch I say. I am happy to hear that you are cooking with Alex too!
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