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
