OK, maybe.
So, Lauren's hair is in her eyes and I do NOT want to cut it. So I got these cute little metal clips, the kind that bend to close. But it occurred to me that they are small enough to be swallowed. Yet, I notice lots of little girls have clips or bows or rubber bands that could be swallowed. So what do you do? Do you just let them do hair stuff when they are with you and you go out?
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Also, to follow up on my last post about cleaning and eating. I don't think I'm a schedule person, at least not at home. I think I have too much of that already at work, and it would stress me out to do it at home also. And to be realistic, I am exhausted when I get home from teaching all day and commuting 40 minutes each way. Most nights, I also cook dinner (husband does the dishes!) and every other night I feed the girls, which is a feat in and of itself. A few nights a week we also bathe the girls, which is a joint effort. Very often, I drag work home to grade or prep for the next day of teaching. Oh, and also I play with my girls and read to them every night. So... I think the deal will be that if I find I have some energy about mid-week, I will throw a load of laundry in to be washed. If I get home early on Friday (which I do often because I am ready to bolt by Friday afternoons), I'll get a head start on laundry. But every day, just won't work.
I guess we're on an upswing with the food, because they haven't thrown food on the floor for me in several days. Just as I type this though, I know I've jinxed myself! :)
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The babysitter is "off" today because she and her whole household are in a barfy state. Mr. PJ and I generally take turns taking off when things like this happen, but apparently his work was more important than mine today (am totally not bitter about it, can you tell?). Anyway, we had a lovely day, except Lauren has been clingy, which makes me super nervous that she is getting sick.
Meanwhile though, let me tell you I am all caught up on laundry and dishes! WOOHOO!
How sad is that? haha! Oh well...
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| "Sharing": Late October |
So my dad builds things, and has offered to make this amazing dollhouse bookcase (that I found inspiration for from Pottery Barn Kids). Is that not awesome? Except, I need it like... yesterday. Kids toys, EVERYWHERE!
So, when do you start teaching your children to clean up? My sitter has been working with mine, and they CAN actually do it, but it takes a LOT of cheering and congratulating to get them to do it, which for me at the end of the day is hard. Do you think 18 months is a good age to start cleaning up?
11 comments:
I don't let Anna sleep with anything in her hair and right now, they have to wear hats in the car, so no clips/binders until we get to where we are going.
You and I are in the same boat. It might take me 3 days to do that one load midweek, but that's the way it is.
My kids have been helping us clean up since they could walk (before?) Sam and Anna are pretty good at it- I sing the clean up song that the kids coming from preschool/4 K kids come in to kindergarten knowing, and praise + thank + etc. I think I was blessed with kids tht like to put stuff in things as much as they like to take things out though. We always clean up before going somewhere, eating, etc. Definitely 18 month olds should be helping!
I let K have a hair clip or elastic in her hair while she's awake and I can keep an eye on things. She occasionally picks at them when they first go in, but will generally leave them alone after I tell her to. They come out for naptime/bedtime.
Definitely start cleaning up with them. Our nanny does with K, and we try to as well. Sing the clean up song, have them help. We still end up doing lots of the work, but K definitely helps.
I love that bookcase! I had something similar when I was little, and really liked it.
I have given up trying to get my 2 year old child to clean up. At least for right now. It is too much effort. My child can clean up for my day care provider. But when I try to get him to clean up at home, he will dump out the bin we just filled.
I use little rubberbands to hold Amelia's hair back - we do pigtails a lot but I also just pull up one side and then put a bow over it. She doesn't try to pull it out now that she's older. She did when she was younger.
And she is just now starting to pick up her toys - we have been working on that for a long time. Sometimes I make it a game and set a timer. I usually have to help her somewhat but she definitely understands because sometimes she tells me, "I don't want to help." HAHA!
We have no hair accessories! Aah... they are so pretty, but my girl just won't keep them, and I have just been chopping her pretty hair off every time they get too long. I might just give it a shot next time to put up a clip or two.
We have been cleaning up at bedtime for ever. The way the twins learned it is by seeing us - we cleaned up in front of them before they went to bed... eventually they even knew what went where and how it sat!
We use those tiny little rubber bands that you would never use in adult hair because it would get all tangled, but it holds baby-fine hair great. I've never had an issue with one coming out and Haddie loves to pull on and play with her pig tails. We've tried the clips (usually the cloth-covered ones), but they never leave them in.
We're the same way with laundry. Usually a load or two gets done sometime during the week, or on Friday night if we didn't get to it earlier.
We were shocked when we learned our twins would clean up (and were the "best helpers" in their class) around 13 months or so (they were walking). Once we realized they were capable, we started it at home. We started Haddie even earlier and she caught on quick watching the other two pick up. I think the earlier, the better!
As for the clip issue... could you bulk it up enough to eliminate the choking hazard by making it more bow-like? Adding a flower or ribbon or something to it?
I make my 20 mth old 'help' to pack up. But her attention span is short so she can start to unpack everything again if I don't supervise closely!
My trick is to take her to one room/disaster area and ask her to pack up a few small items while I rocket around doing the bulk of the work. She feels like she's helped, I get a decluttered area.
I think you do an amazing job btw! I've been following your blog for a while now and the girls look great, you seem so positive about everything. Well done!
I was curious about the clean-up issue, too. Mine are 18 months, and if I can make it a bit of a game, they help clean up one thing, but for the most part they think they're just playing. I can get my son to sing the clean-up song, too. My daughter STILL doesn't really have hair, so I don't have the hair clip issue at all, and I don't have any answers for that!
Lexi has had long hair since forever. So she's used to having clips/barrettes/rubber bands in her hair. She's got alot of hair so I use the cloth bands that won't get caught in her hair...or the metal clips you referred to. Clips come out at naptime, but piggies stay in.
She helps us clean up and has for awhile now...but she's slow, and anything "new" distracts her. But she gets the idea.
My kids were cleaning up since about 13 months - poor things. Crawling but they had to put their own toys away :)
And.... I hate laundry. That is all :)
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