I already mentioned that Mini-me is learning to help with housework, but I am pleased to announce that Cuddles is getting in on the action too. The girls are responsible for cleaning their own room, which they share; there are also sometimes fights over who gets to feed The Beast, and Cuddles, especially, loves to help unload the dishwasher (which means I rush to unload everything breakable while she spends twenty minutes emptying the silverware basket).
This morning I needed to run the vacuum in the living room area. When I got it out, Cuddles came running over to me, saying, "Ah hep you." She's almost two years old, and our pediatrician says that a stranger should be able to understand about half of what she says. Mama, however, gets closer to 80%, and in this case I figured it out after about three repetitions: "I want to help you." The "ah" sound universally means "I want" when it comes from her, as in "Ah Daddy" or "Ah cookie." And, like most two-year-olds, she seems to only say the first part of most words (the important part, right?). So "Daddy" is actually "Dahyee", for example, and "help" is, apparently, "hep".
I was in the process of vacuuming when she squeezed herself between me and the vacuum cleaner. She reached up as high as she could and could almost touch the handle with her fingertips. After a few passes, she gave up on that. Her next technique is the same that she uses to push a big yellow toy dump truck around the house: she placed both hands on the base of the vacuum cleaner, leaned forward, and pushed with all her might. It was cute, but it meant that I couldn't propel or steer the vacuum at all, and she was almost stepped on twice. I re-directed her to hold onto the hose attachment, and that seemed to make everyone happy.
Cuddles stayed with me for a full five minutes or so, which is more than twice as long as I should expect her to do anything, according to a recent article I read in Parenting magazine (or maybe it was Parents; I can't remember!) that specifies that young kids usually have an attention span of one minute per year of age. Those five minutes would normally have allowed me to finish my chore, but I moved at such a slow pace to accommodate her that I was only about halfway done. When she left, I finished vacuuming quickly, then she came running back: "Ah hep you." Now she wanted to help me coil the cord around the clip that holds it in place (a favorite task of Mini-me's too, incidentally). Again, I let her "help", but the task took at least twice as long as it should have.
For some reason, I wasn't frustrated by all of that. Granted, it had taken me the better part of 20 minutes to do something that should have taken five, but I was really proud of my little girl.
First, it excited me that she wanted to help at all. How many adults don't assist when they see something around them that needs doing? That's a life skill I want to develop in my kids, and it looks like starting them out as toddlers isn't too early at all.
Second, it's a big deal to me that she (and her brother and sister) learns at a young age how to do her chores so that she can take care of herself, her home, and her family when the time comes. I'm afraid that it will seem like my house is dirty because I didn't know any better, but it's not true; my mother is an incredibly wise and talented woman, and she made sure that I knew the essentials of housekeeping before I left her house. (Imagine the state I'd be in without that education!)
And finally, I enjoyed that little moment of giving Cuddles my undivided attention, even if it was while doing a chore. We have three kids, and it's easy to feel like they don't each get the individual attention they deserve. I hope vacuuming the living room floor isn't the best memory she'll have of me when she grows up, but I do hope she will remember that our family had fun together and loved one another enough to help out when it was needed.
This morning I needed to run the vacuum in the living room area. When I got it out, Cuddles came running over to me, saying, "Ah hep you." She's almost two years old, and our pediatrician says that a stranger should be able to understand about half of what she says. Mama, however, gets closer to 80%, and in this case I figured it out after about three repetitions: "I want to help you." The "ah" sound universally means "I want" when it comes from her, as in "Ah Daddy" or "Ah cookie." And, like most two-year-olds, she seems to only say the first part of most words (the important part, right?). So "Daddy" is actually "Dahyee", for example, and "help" is, apparently, "hep".
I was in the process of vacuuming when she squeezed herself between me and the vacuum cleaner. She reached up as high as she could and could almost touch the handle with her fingertips. After a few passes, she gave up on that. Her next technique is the same that she uses to push a big yellow toy dump truck around the house: she placed both hands on the base of the vacuum cleaner, leaned forward, and pushed with all her might. It was cute, but it meant that I couldn't propel or steer the vacuum at all, and she was almost stepped on twice. I re-directed her to hold onto the hose attachment, and that seemed to make everyone happy.
Cuddles stayed with me for a full five minutes or so, which is more than twice as long as I should expect her to do anything, according to a recent article I read in Parenting magazine (or maybe it was Parents; I can't remember!) that specifies that young kids usually have an attention span of one minute per year of age. Those five minutes would normally have allowed me to finish my chore, but I moved at such a slow pace to accommodate her that I was only about halfway done. When she left, I finished vacuuming quickly, then she came running back: "Ah hep you." Now she wanted to help me coil the cord around the clip that holds it in place (a favorite task of Mini-me's too, incidentally). Again, I let her "help", but the task took at least twice as long as it should have.
For some reason, I wasn't frustrated by all of that. Granted, it had taken me the better part of 20 minutes to do something that should have taken five, but I was really proud of my little girl.
First, it excited me that she wanted to help at all. How many adults don't assist when they see something around them that needs doing? That's a life skill I want to develop in my kids, and it looks like starting them out as toddlers isn't too early at all.
Second, it's a big deal to me that she (and her brother and sister) learns at a young age how to do her chores so that she can take care of herself, her home, and her family when the time comes. I'm afraid that it will seem like my house is dirty because I didn't know any better, but it's not true; my mother is an incredibly wise and talented woman, and she made sure that I knew the essentials of housekeeping before I left her house. (Imagine the state I'd be in without that education!)
And finally, I enjoyed that little moment of giving Cuddles my undivided attention, even if it was while doing a chore. We have three kids, and it's easy to feel like they don't each get the individual attention they deserve. I hope vacuuming the living room floor isn't the best memory she'll have of me when she grows up, but I do hope she will remember that our family had fun together and loved one another enough to help out when it was needed.
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