Everyday Glimpses: My Toddler’s Chores {Lois Ormsby}

Here is a fun and maybe insightful glimpse into life at the Joshua Ormsby household.  Our son, Malachi, is nearly 2 and 1/2 now, but he has been helping with the chores for at least a year already!  He is not quite to the point where we expect him to complete certain chores every single day…that day will come all too soon for mama *cue the tears*.  However, Malachi started helping with the chores almost completely on his own!  I’m very grateful that he is seeing how fun it can be to lend a helping hand.

Let me mention something: yes, letting Malachi help me do things slows down the process.  But, if I shoo him away when all he wants to do is help, what a negative impact that will have on his emotions as well as his perception of life.  It might appear that the only thing being accomplished is laundry v e r y   s l o w l y being sorted; but, the hidden lessons of a servant’s heart, cheerfulness, and work ethic are being accomplished too.

Malachi loves to help me empty the dryer, unload the dishwasher, clean up liquid spills from his sippy cups, take out the trash with Daddy, pick up his toys every night, and unload the grocery bags.  He doesn’t complete all of these tasks alone…but it might surprise you how many of them he can do by himself!  Things like dishes and putting away groceries are definitely more tricky with a 2-year-old; so, Josh and I have learned to adapt.  I quickly put away knives and fragile items before Malachi dives in.  When we don’t want Malachi’s help with the dishwasher, we wait until he’s in bed to do it.  As we put away the groceries, we grab the breakable bottles and jars and then let Malachi get the rest of the items.  Since he can’t reach the cupboards yet or open the fridge (a blessing, haha), he “puts away” his groceries on the kitchen counter.  It always amazes me how much endurance his little self has!  It is rare for him not to see a task through until it is done.

Fellow mamas, perhaps today’s post will encourage you to be purposeful about involving your little people in everyday life.  Learning traits like cleanliness, stewardship, and diligence is so much easier when you are 2 than when you are 52.  “Let them be little” – ah, how I love that quote, for we are busy rushing our kids to grow up more than ever before (another blogpost for another day).  Yet: “let them be little” learners, too.