Little Helper

So, Owen has decided that he likes to help me do chores around the house. Since he's started showing an interest in helping me around the house I now need to find ways that he can help me with chores, rather than just waiting until he goes down for a nap to get everything done. Here are a few things that we did this week:

1- He helped me pick up the clothes off the floor and put them in the laundry basket, then he pushed the basket (it is on wheels) to the laundry room. After the basket was empty he proceeded to push it all around the house, picking up his toys and giving them a ride in the laundry basket.

2- He helped me make cookies. He had his own bowl, spoon, and measuring cup that he carried around the kitchen and living room while I made the cookies. Then he was more than willing to help me taste the cookie dough to make sure it was good.

3- He helped me take out the trash. I carried the kitchen garbage out while he carried the bathroom garbage out (Wal-Mart bag sized). He insisted on holding on to the bag with one hand and the handrail with the other to go down the front steps.

4- He helped me carry the groceries in from the car. He carried the small, light bags - or my wallet and keys if the bags were all to big for him.

5- He likes to help me play the piano. Last week Owen broke the music holder on my piano and Bryce had to take it off and fix it (Bryce did a wonderful job and it's now better than it was before, since we discovered that it had been broken before and poorly fixed). This resulted in the new rule that Owen is only allowed to play the piano with my help. So now I tell Owen that it's time for his "piano lesson" and he gets excited, runs to the piano and waits for me to pull out the bench and open the keyboard. Then he sits next to me on the bench and plays and sings his songs while I play mine. He even likes to reach up and try to turn pages on the piano books like he's seen me do.

I can't wait to see what Mommy's little helper will learn this next week!!