Cleaning can be a chore, but having a helpful toddler can make the process a little more challenging.
My little girl has decided that she wants to help with just about ever aspect of daily life. She looks up at me with her big brown eyes and declares, “I help!”
I do try and let her help as much as I can, since I know it will teach her good skills for the future. She’s very good at putting trash in the trash can, and picking up some of her toys.
But I was folding towels and she decided she wanted to help. Her folding technique was comprised of pushing the towel into a ball and then trying to add it to my neat piles.
I ended up just giving her the folded towels to put in the appropriate pile, which she was happy to do. Then she insisted on helping put them away which involved me having to hold her up so she could stuff the towels into the closet. It was actually quite cute.
Even though it does take extra time to get chores done this way, it is teaching her good skills. So I’ll continue to let her help as long as she wants to. And do any cleaning that I don’t want her to help with while she’s asleep!
Kids love to “help”. Around this age my daughter would delight in sorting out socks into pairs and separating colours from whites. My son, however had an absolute passion for cleaning. If we were out and could not find him he was inevitably found on his hands and knees with a tissue (or scarf or cardigan) wiping somebody’s floor. (Including dirty restaurants)
My daughter has the same towel-folding technique as yours! So right now, she sticks to hand and dish towels. They seem more manageable for her short arms. Another project she loves (and keeps her busy for several minutes) is cleaning the sliding glass door, or the bottom half of it at least. She gets to squirt and wipe and squirt again. Big fun for a four year old.
My kid does the same thing; I remember being little and wanting to help but being barred from doing so because I ‘couldn’t do it right.’ And today, I totally loathe cleaning.
Kudos to you for letting your little girl help! I usually have my daughter fold her own clothes and put them in her drawer while I do mine. I praise her for trying and well, sometimes I do fold her clothes and when she protests I say, ‘I just wanted to do something for you because I love you.’ Which is true 😀