by Skyra

Created on: May 21, 2009

I believe it's a great idea to assign small chores to toddlers. My mother and grandmother did this with me, and I intend to do it with my son.

When I was growing up, my parents bought me a toy broom, a little plastic toolkit, a little vacuum and lawn mower. I "swept" with my grandmother, "vacuumed", followed my grandfather along and "helped" him nail together a bookcase. I always received a lot of praise and I always wanted to do more and more.

As I got a little older, my parents bought me a little whisk broom and told me my job was to sweep my room. Just sweep all the dust bunnies into a little pile. Of course, I had to pick my toys up first and my mother turned it into a great game. All the toys had their places and needed to take a nap there and since I often played school, I thought I was helping them too. Then I swept my room and got a little plastic coin to put in a piggy bank.

There were rewards for the coins - five was worth a cookie, 10 a trip to the park, and so on. Every time I did a little "job" I was rewarded - not just with the plastic coins to save up for a treat, but with a great amount of praise. It didn't matter how messily it was done or how long it took me. By the time I was in school, I looked forward to helping around the house - it was a great time to tell my grandmother about my day in school and I still received the praise for a job well done. I took great pride in it and it always felt great to be my grandfather's "gopher" or "grandmommy's little helper" or "mommy's sunshine."

Now I have my own son and I realize how greatly being given little chores helped me. I was never given too much and always received praise and a hug. Now, I can keep my house neat and clean, and even replace my own electrical outlets, fix my own computer, build my own shelves if I need to. All because my family instilled in me a love of doing it yourself and the pride that goes with hard work, and allowed me to help with chores right alongside them.

My little boy already tries to help. He brings me things when I ask, helps put his toys away, tries to help sweep and vacuum. He knows how to take a cloth and wipe up spilled milk - some may call that a chore, but the delight in his eyes and the happy grin I get when I tell him what a good job he did will never make me change my mind. As long as they aren't above their level, chores for toddlers are a great idea, if given and taught with love. It helped me to become more confident and sure of myself. And it seems that it helps my son as well - when he knows he's done something well, he's proud and he feels good and is willing to try more things.

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