Something I have been working on with Marian since she was…goodness – six months old…is being a cheerful worker. Work is a good thing! Definitely not something to constantly escape from, or to shoo children away from until they are ‘older’. While I want Marian’s childhood to be as full of as much fun and joy as she can hold, I also want her to take her responsibilities seriously from a young age, and be able to work cheerfully and efficiently. Since before she could crawl, she was sitting on the kitchen table in her little bumbo seat ‘helping’ me cook. When she could stand, she was right beside me in her little wagon or high chair to ‘help’ me wash dishes or stir up cornbread.
Once when she was crawling (but not walking yet) She was standing by the couch watching me change Alan’s diaper and I folded up the old diaper, handed it to her and asked her to take it to the trash for me. (I didn’t know what to expect as I had never asked her to do something like that, or showed her where the trash can was located) Marian looked at me with wide eyes for a minute, then she dropped on all fours and crawled over to the trash can, dragging the diaper along with her, then stood up and threw it away! Apparently she understood a lot more than I had given her credit for! After that incident I start looking for thing she could actually do for me – fetching little things, or throwing things in the trash, or toddling across the room to give Da-da something. She seems to relish being a ‘big helper’, and it sure keeps away boredom while I am having to do my housework. Keeping her busy along side me is much easier than trying to make her amuse herself ‘having fun’ with her toys.
She is only 17 months old now, and already helps in quite a few little ways. I am hoping that by the time she is 5 or 7 or so she will be quite the competent little helper (for real – right now her ‘help’ takes much long than me just doing it myself – but she has to practice sometime!) I think little kids are capable of much more than they are allowed to do most of the time – I don’t want Marian to do anything unsafe or unsuitable for a child, but I am going to keep asking her to stretch and grow her abilities as she works with me in the real world, learning real skills, and not consign her to the world of playtime and cartoons until she is ‘old enough’ to actually help.
Now – does this work? Does this ‘method’ help children into being cheerful workers? I honestly don’t know – I’ve never done this before, so I suppose I won’t know what worked and what didn’t for about another 10 years….but, I certainly hope so! I trust that the Lord will bless the efforts dedicated to him, and show me how to train up my children.
(Sorry about the photo quality on these- Most were taken on my phone while I had soapy hands from washing dishes or something!)
What a sweet little helper! Instilling that work ethic is so important! I certainly hope to be able to do the same with my little one who is due in January. :D
I’ve done the same thing with my little girl too! At now three she’s able to pick up her toys and books, throw things away, put dishes in the skink, etc. there’s no reason a child should be shielded from work and responsibility. It should always fall in line with the child’s maturity level, but honestly I want a helpful, willing child. I want her to understand at an early age that momma is always here to help and that I deserve a little help in return.
I enjoyed reading this and the pictures are so sweet! You are right to have faith in your training. You will reap what you sew! My children are 11, 9, 6, and almost 4 and they all help so much. “Many hands make light work.”
How sweet! This reminds me of when my kids were little! They are in college now and cheerful training is on-going. =) When they were little they helped lilke your daughter does. Even now their help is so valuable that I tell them so! They like me to sew for them, historically and for my daughter, she also likes odern contemporary clothes to wear, as well as quilts for their bed and such. However there is no way I can do all the chores plus all the sewing they’d love for me to do. I tell them I have more time for sewing the more they help me out, so that helps add the cheerfulness factor to it! =)
Laurie
I LOVE everything about this post so much! Actually, I was literally about to write a blog post on this very subject.
We have and are doing many of the same things with Gavin and I think it is totally worth it and so very important. He is only 13 months old, but already loves to “help Mama” by putting his things away, wiping tables, dusting surfaces, sweeping, helping put away dishes, etc.. Those are some adorable pictures too! :-) I hope y’all are having a wonderfully blessed day.
-Alice Wright
http://www.thewrightfamilyfarm.blogspot.com
http://www.whatsoever-lovely.blogspot.com
I am so inspired by this , especially the age appropriate tasks your daughter is able to do. My daughter is nearly two, and sometimes I am at a loss as to what to have her do. But your post is a great reminder for me to persevere :) Incidentally, one of my favorite quotes comes from the movie “Return to Me”. In it, one of the characters says that they are “blessed with work”. That is the feeling I want my family to have. Thanks for your post!