My little helper

One of my favorite things about being a mom to children between the ages of 4 and 8 is that they have a genuine desire to help. My children in particular have always been eager to help me with little tasks like setting or clearing the table, picking up toys, cleaning their rooms, or packing toys to bring on vacation. I firmly believe that it is important to teach children that because they are a member of our family, they need to roll up their sleeves and participate in family chores. Hopefully, I am teaching them the value of responsibility and the importance of contributing to a household.

I always make it a point to praise my children when they lend a hand in doing every day or extraordinary tasks, and lucky for me, Olivia and Evan thrive on positive reinforcement.

Over the last few weeks, Evan has really stepped up his desire to help me. He is eager to set out the napkins and forks before dinner. He is excited about putting his dirty laundry in the hamper and picking up his Thomas trains every night. But, his favorite task has become closing my moon roof when we pull into daycare. I’m not sure why he gets so excited to do this or why I think it is so sweet, but as soon as the car has come to a complete stop in a parking place at Bright Ideas and his favorite song ends, Evan leaps out of his car seat and proceeds to push the button to close the moon roof. Then he pulls the shade over it. Naturally, he MUST do this all by himself. The best part is when he announces in his sweet little voice that he is my little helper.

The harsh reality is that Evan gets a great deal of help in his life. From climbing into the car each day to brushing his teeth every night, if we aren’t physically assisting him, we are there to make sure he doesn’t need our help. I absolutely love that he is eager to help me and hopefully others. So, today’s special thing about Evan is that he is a little helper!

OLIVIA'S STREAK