Never Too Young to Learn

My back was against the wall this weekend. I faced eight loads of clean, unfolded laundry. My husband and I chatted over a few loads on Friday night (I guess you could call it date night -in) and we left 3 sorted piles for our three, five and six- year- old children to tackle the next morning. When Saturday came, it was clear and sunny. I knew that I could not spend hours sorting and folding the other 5 baskets of laundry by myself. My husband had some lame excuse about going to work. So I called the kids to come put their clothes in their dressers and then began to dread the task ahead. While handing the kids their clothes, the light bulb came on.

After they had finished with the already folded clothes, I grabbed a full basket of unfolded, unsorted clothing and dumped the whole thing onto our queen size bed. Next I told the kids to come pick out their own clothes and then fold them up and put them away. Each one made a pile of their things while helping me pull out mine and their dad's. They thought it was fun and it took all of 5 minutes to do one basket. At their ages the clothes were not folded well. But that's okay because we always iron. Together, we did the next 4 baskets in record time; including putting the clothes away. I praised those kids all day long and they beamed with pride. Since they are already familiar with sorting and loading the washer, I think I'm ready to make this a routine.

How old were you when you learned to do laundry? At what age will you teach your children this skill?

Peace and blessings,

Polly

What's for Breakfast

As I looked for my oldest this morining, I wondered where she was and how she could be so quiet. When I finally got downstairs I found her. She had gotten herself some bread and was putting it into the toaster. She looked over her shoulder saying, "I thought I should try it myself." I said, "I was hoping you would." We had just practiced yesterday. In my whole craze over education and higher level thinking for my children, I nearly missed the window for teaching them to function on their own. But the wonderful thing about kids is that they are constantly seeking independence ---no matter how thorough you are as a parent.

For us, it began several months ago with them wanting to fix their own juice. At first, I was mad because I didn't know what was going on until it was done and there was a mess to clean up. However, I quickly realized that learning to do these things were just as exciting for them, if not more so, than education. I backed down and even moved their cups and bowls to where they could reach them easily. Their overwhelming desire to do things themselves rubbed off on me.


So I took the ball and ran with it. Like the Obamas, we implemented an alarm clock at 4 years old with both girls. Our kids are old hat at making up their beds, as well as brushing teeth and washing faces. Next we set our sights on learning to work the shower. Folding a basket of laundry and putting away clothes appears to be fun for them right now. Let's see how long it lasts. Completing these tasks requires patience and understanding, but to do it without tears is my always my goal. I'm looking forward to breakfast in the morning.


Many blessings,
Polly