From Mr. Handsome:
Little Buddy is right in the middle of a “Can I help? Let me do it!” stage. No matter what kind of project Mommy and Daddy are doing, he wants to be right in the middle of it. It is really quite sweet that he is so eager to help, but it makes it virtually impossible to get anything done.
There is no job too small. He wants to cook, clean, paint, drill, hammer, shovel, and just about anything else he sees us doing. I used to be able to give him a different task to do alongside me, such as bang his plastic hammer against a random board, but he is quickly becoming too smart for that. He wants to do big people tasks.
I try to let him do as many things as he safely can, but there are still so many jobs that are too dangerous. I just love his helpful spirit, and it always makes me sad to tell him that he can’t help with something. It’s an unfortunate paradox that a child’s motivation to help is highest when the amount of tasks they are able to help with is lowest. I’m really hoping that as his ability to help increases, his interest in helping will not decrease. However, it’s a sad truth that teenagers, who are old enough to do many of the household tasks that adults can, are often very much not interested in working alongside Mom and Dad.
Does anyone else feel the same way?
No matter how much he begs, promise us you won’t let him do fillings or root canals.
Haha!
Crown preps, maybe…… lol
I am ashamed to admit here quite how much domestic help I actually have…* So my kids aren’t giving a great example of doing chores etc.. However, one of them religiously unloads the dishwasher because “it makes mummy happy in the morning”. He’s nine. It’s very sweet.
* fine… I’ll admit it… I have a cleaner every week day and I use a pick up/ drop off laundry service. I also have a lady who cooks freezer meals for me three times per month!
That’s very sweet of him! There’s no shame in having help. 🙂 It sounds like you work very hard outside the home, so it’s wonderful to be able to spend your at-home time with your family, rather than spending all of it cleaning and cooking.
There must be different pay rates for cleaners in the UK. In the US, you’d go broke if you had a cleaner daily. They want over $100 to clean a house once or twice a month, for about two hours’ work.
That’s the theory of the thing… I want to spend lots of time with my kids (one of whom has autism) and I don’t want to waste it changing beds or washing up. I’ve concluded that being mum is not a list of jobs… it’s a relationship. And I know the alternative (I see it with my friends…)- you both work really hard and somehow mum does all the domestic drudgery as well!
I also want to model to my boys that women can do anything that men can do. I am as intelligent / capable as a man. And my husband is as loving and nurturing.
Absolutely no shame! I wish those services were available where I live.
Thanks! I actually reinvest about half of what I earn into running my house… and my goodness does it make me happy!
It’s been so many years ago since I had little ones, but, depending on the job, I would let them hold whatever, and I would put my hand over theirs to do the task together. But middle school age is when they start pulling away. At least it was in my household.
That’s about the age when we bought our son a bunch of huge (can’t swallow) nuts, bolts, and washers from the hardware store and let him use them with lath strips of wood that we drilled big holes in. He could “build” with his own real hardware and wood. Threading the nuts and using washers on the bolts fascinated him. He also had his own tool box (a fishing tackle box) to keep these in. Giving kids that age a bucket of water and a big paint brush and having them “paint” everything outside is also good safe fun.
Those are great ideas! Thank you!
Little Buddy is a big help to you. Wishing you a blessed Mother’s day. God Bless.
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY
Joan,Marion and Marilyn
Thank you, Joan, Marion, and Marilyn!
I wish I had Little Buddy’s energy!
Me too1
Happy Mother’s Day Ellie.
Thank you very much!
We were very close with our kids as they grew up. We did projects together as a family into their teens. We worked together as a unit. They were not as motivated when they were teens, but would get into the projects with us. We had fun. We enjoyed all the stages of our children’s lives and still do.
Home depot and lowes offer free “kids workshops” you can build in store or take home. My 2 and 4 year old love them!!