Mommy Files: Toddler Chores + Free Printable

It may seem hard to believe, but my two year old loves chores. I am sure that he will be growing out of it soon, but mama is taking full advantage of the situation right now. Ha. But really. I love the structure of having chores for Noah to help with throughout the day. From things like feeding the dog (with my help) to cleaning up his messes to vacuuming with his tiny dyson sweeper. I think that it is beginning to instill a certain responsibility for Noah. Which again may sound crazy, but hear me out. 

The other day Noah tripped in the kitchen while carrying his chocolate milk. I was cooking eggs for the family, so I made sure Noah was ok, but I figured I would clean up the mess after I was finished with the eggs. I turned around and Noah by himself had gone in and gotten a towel and was cleaning up his own mess. It was such a proud momma moment for me. It makes me feel like despite these crazy terrible-twos that I am dealing with I am getting through to him at least on some levels. It was just so surprising to me that a two year old without being asked went to so much effort to clean up after themselves. I could be getting totally over-excited about this, but I was so impressed. 

I don't really feel like there is a magic formula to getting young kids to do things or learn things because every child is different. But I have learned that structure seems to do well. Don't get me wrong it is a hot mess over here a lot of the time, but I try to keep somewhat of the same routine each day and week to keep us on track. The list just really helps make me feel like we accomplished something even if we've had a rough day. 

I had been just keeping the list of chores in my head and I would call them out as we would work on them throughout the day. But I decided that it may be more fun if I had a little chart that Noah could mark on every day. So now I thought I'd share it with you. There are four color options: red, blue, pink, + mustard. Just download, print, and fill it out. 

PS. I hope he is forever this excited to vacuum :) xo Britt

Mom Guilt

It took like two seconds after Noah was born for mom guilt to set in. It is so silly but like everything's made me feel so bad. Like if I had to go home and leave him in the NICU. Or if I forgot what time he had eaten and he went thirty minutes past his scheduled time. I basically acted as though it was the end of the world.  

Then we add baby two. Oh yeah I'd say it's worse but in a different way. I am always feeling guilt about how much attention I give each little one. And the guilt I feel if I nap while they are both napping instead of cleaning our house, which is a disaster by the way, is horrendous. 

Then there is the number of times I have to get on Noah during the day. I feel like I say NO about three hundred times a day. I am constantly having to tell him to get out of something. To close the door. To be gentle with Sophie. To stop using, fill in the blank, as a weapon. I am on repeat everyday. I hate that I am constantly having to get on to him.

So I decided that we were going to start going on weekly adventures. Somewhere that Noah could run like a crazy man. Pick whatever up that he wants to. All without me having to say anything. Last week we went to Watkins Mill. Sophie was in the stroller and Noah ran free. As we walked around the trail together he played in the leaves. He picked up rocks and acorns and leaves. 

We had so much fun. It was nice to give him some freedom and for me to have a break from saying his name over and over and over. I think it will be a good thing to do once a week for us both to get a break.

Happy Wednesday! xo, Britt

Cue the cute photos 😁 

Big Brother Status

Last week I shared what I had packed for Sophie and I for our hospital stay. So I thought that I should share Noah's big brother bag with you.

A few weeks ago, I got it in my head that Noah really needed a backpack. Like a tiny toddler backpack that he could carry his hospital snack and things around in. Just thinking about a mini human walking around with a tiny backpack on makes me smile. Admit it you just smiled thinking about it :) It took me HOURS to find a cute back that was little enough and didn't cost a fortune. I stumbled upon this cute backpack here.

I decided to get Noah a few of his favorite snacks to fill his bag and also a cute little book that I found about being a big brother. I didn't want to go overboard, but I do want him to feel special with his big brother gift. I think he is going to love it.

I let him just carry the bag around when it first arrived at the house and this is what happened. I think it's safe to say that he likes having a backpack. :)

So now are bags are all ready. Now we wait. :) x0, Britt

Cozy Coupe Carwash

If you are anything like me, you make these really cool plans that you think are freakin' awesome and your kids are going to love, and then they fail. Ha! Either they hate them or things just don't work out as planned. You know what I am talking about. For the first time, my plan started out as a fail, but ended up being a success! Plus it was so much fun for the whole family.

I had this brilliant plan! Noah loves the water and he is always helping me clean off his highchair tray, so I had this awesome idea for us to have a cozy coupe car wash. His coupe and van really needed cleaned and I thought it would be so adorable to see a mini human washing his car! So I get everything all set up, I get Noah outside and I get our little sponges all suddsed up. I spray down the coupe and the van all hosed down and am showing him how to wash it and all he wants to do is sit in the cars.

So for a while it was just me cleaning his cars while he sat in them. :) It was fun, but I was so happy when Jake was able get Noah to help to. And surprisingly I was able to get photos of him while he was cleaning! Ha! It was seriously so much fun for all three of us.

We got his coupe and his van all clean and played in the water for a long time! It was nice to have a fun plan that I came up with for us to actually work out. It doesn't happen often but it sure feels good when it does. :) xo, Britt

My Busy Boy: Spaghetti Activity

Noah is a busy little guy. He is constantly moving (and getting into everything). I have been trying to come up with activities that can keep him busy and that really help him learn or work on his hand-eye coordination.  

He was "helping" me cook spaghetti the other night and I decided that I needed something for him to do while I finished up dinner. I had a shaker that I recently picked up at the thrift store. I took the shaker and placed a few raw spaghetti noodles in the holes. I also placed a few noodles next to the shaker on the tray of his highchair. I basically just let Noah figure it out on his own. He just started by pulling one of the noodles out and then putting it back in. This kept him busy for about 15 minutes. Plenty of time for me to finish up dinner.

Noah has pretty great hand-eye coordination for his age and he is very motivated to do activities as long as I cheer him on as he does well. So there was a lot of clapping involved :) See Noah's video on instagram.

I love that I have found fun and easy activities for Noah to help him learn and give me a little time to get something done. I also found out the boy loves to eat raw noodles :) Happy Tuesday lovelies!  xo, Britt + Noah