Then, when it's time to eat, I tell him what he needs (“get yourself a plate and a fork!”), and he runs over to pull them out.
He also loves helping to start the dishwasher. This is actually one job I feel guilty doing without him! For a little boy who loves routines, there's just something so satisfying about getting out the soap, helping Mama pour it in (just a little bit!), and shutting the doors: first the little one, and then the big one.
I recently moved everything out of the cupboard under the sink except for the trash and recycling, in part because he loves to throw things away for us (heck, anything involving trash and/or trash trucks is a big thrill around here), and I wanted him to be able to do that without me having to unlock the door for him.
But there were also some cleaning supplies in there (which is why the doors were locked), and he would get excited every time he saw the dishwasher detergent. There are only so many dishwasher-related meltdowns one mama can take.
Now the soap only comes out when it's time to run the dishwasher, and the toddler can throw trash away by himself. Win-win.
I mentioned that I got a new vacuum cleaner recently, and it has revolutionized my life. Not only does it work like a dream, but the best part is that Pippo loves it! This is huge, since he was terrified of my old, upright vacuum. Up until a few months ago, I vacuumed downstairs only during his naps, and upstairs… not as often as I should have.
I don't know if it's the novelty of the thing or just that the canister design is less intimidating, but now, he gets excited whenever I suggest that we get ready to vacuum. He helps me tidy up beforehand and then follows me around with his little cart (which he decided is his new vacuum).
Another of his favorite jobs — right up there with starting the dishwasher — is helping me make my pot of iced tea. I give him two bowls and a stack of teabags: he opens them up and puts the tea in one bowl and the trash in the other. Then I give him the trash to throw away (by himself, of course, since he can now get at the bin on his own), we put the tea into the pot, and pour in the hot water.
He just watches that last part, of course, but he loves seeing all the steam and telling me how hot it is.
(He has studied my teabags to the point where now he points out all the Lipton brand products in the grocery store. Who knew there were so many?)
He loves to help with the cooking too, especially when there is measuring, stirring, or pressing buttons involved.
The other day we made Smitten Kitchen's homemade goldfish crackers together (which were, incidentally, easy and delicious).
He helped pour in the ingredients and did all the mixing — I turned around for a minute, and they were done!
This boy really doesn't like aprons, but he will consent to me safety-pinning a towel around him. |
I am really excited about this stool that we found him (from IKEA — simple, sturdy, and cheap. Perfect!), that lets him reach the counters easily and safely.
I pull it over when I have a job for him to do. He can just barely move it around himself, but not without making a lot of noise. This is perfect, as far as I'm concerned, because it makes it harder for him to get into trouble without me knowing about it. I don't always want my toddler to be able to reach the counters!
Last week our Friday night pizza was ready on time for the first time in ages, because instead of waiting for his daddy to get home to play with Pippo while I did the final, messy preparations, I gave Pippo his own piece of dough to pat and roll while I worked.
(This brought back such memories of my mom giving Nick, me, and Suzanne each our own little ball of dough to roll out while she made bread. We would diligently knead it and pat it into our little baking dishes and sprinkle it with cinnamon and raisins. In turn, she would bake ours along with the big loaves. I always expected mine to taste basically like a delicious sticky bun, but somehow it always came out like a hard, dry, bitter cinnamon roll. That didn't stop us from trying again next time!)
Poor kid. It didn't occur to me at first that I should knead some flour into his piece to make it less sticky. |
If he feels like he's included in the job with his own piece of dough or measuring spoons or the like, he will happily work on his own right next to me, generally for as long as I am working too.
We may make a little bit more of a mess (no worries: new vacuum, remember?), but we both love doing our work together.
That same day we made cupcakes, too (it was a productive afternoon, what can I say?), and after helping me measure and mix the ingredients, Pippo learned one of the most rewarding parts of helping Mama cook: getting to taste the batter.
Our deal was that he could eat anything that dripped onto the pan, but he wasn't allowed to stick his finger into the cupcakes themselves. |
It's fun to be big!
Mama Rachael says
I love it! My little boy, who is 16 1/2 mos, loves to help. He gets quite angry and upset if I don't let him do some vacuuming or sweeping or mopping. The other day, I got a stool and let him help me grind cheese. I hadn't thought of letting him play with the dough or such. I fear he is too likely to take it off to the living room or his bedroom and months later I will find a hard piece of dried dough somewhere. Might be worth the risk!
We've been thinking about how to intentionally encourage and grow this desire to help, and not squash it. We are thinking of those later years when children can get very frustrating that way.
Suki says
Oh my gosh, that child is SO CUTE! I miss him!
Also, you're an awesome mom.
_Rosie says
Thanks, Sukie. 🙂
Jessica says
Pippo is so cute! I'm looking forward to my little boy reaching the point where he can help…he's only 15 months, but he wants to be there when I'm cooking, or washing dishes.
Alice says
Pippo is my favorite, oh my goodness gracious.
Lori says
These are golden days while it is just you and your little/big boy, for sure. When you have more children it will be just as wonderful, but you'll never have this “just the two of you” day after day again. I'm at the other end of the hands-on parenting spectrum now and am experiencing “just the two of us” with our youngest, 17 yr.-old son. It has its own joys, but they don't include excitement over the vacuum cleaner or kneading pizza dough! (Although, now he makes pizza for the family “all by himself” sometimes, so it's all good!)
Patty says
What a wonderful post! Love seeing how he is growing. Treasure these years!
Sarah says
Wow–great post!
Elizabeth says
So sweet! My little helper (and sometimes “helper”) is almost exactly the same age as Pippo and likes to help with similar things–especially throwing things in the trash. We're also lucky because he actually *loves* the vacuum–for awhile I couldn't vacuum with him because he wanted to push the vacuum himself and got very angry when I wouldn't let him or he discovered the vacuum was too big and heavy for him to push himself. Now he contents himself with pushing the attachment hoses around and saying “vacuum the dirt!” I need to start baking with him, because I think he'd enjoy that too, but he gets concerned when he sees me cover the table with flour. “Very dirty. Clean it up!” It's such a fun time, though 🙂
Suzanne says
My little girl, who turned four last week, has been on that IKEA stool for over half of her life, helping me cook, kneading bread, turning on the kitchen wizz, mixing, doing dishes etc……I loved seeing Pippo up on that stool…she was still on it this afternoon with me making a cake….yours looks clean! Mine does not….!!!!!
_Rosie says
Suzanne, mine is only a few weeks old. 🙂
Suzanne says
Well give it a few years and it will have the used and loved patina that mine has….cake batter, paint, and goodness knows what else! Enjoy every minute of that little man…x
Woman of the House says
Awwwwwwww, what a cutie! I can't believe he will be 2yo soon. Your pictures brought back many memories of when my girls were little. So much fun!
Celeste says
Adorable! And I love all the toddler-helper ideas–thank you for sharing!
seashoreknits says
Rosie, what an awesome post. I just loved hearing about all the ways Pippo is growing up to be such a big helper. And I agree with Suki – you are an awesome mom!
Kathryn says
Rosie, thank you so much for helping me see this stage with the eyes of a new mom! My 3rd child (my first girl) is 19 months old now, and smack into the helping stage and it has been driving me crazy. I loved it with my first two, but they are now 6 and 4 and wreaking all sorts of havoc while I try to get things done. I need to take a step back and remember that this is her time and her turn to “help”, and especially with a girl, it's important for her to learn to help.
Natalie Boudreau says
love the goldfish! did you find a store that carries that cookie cutter or purchase online?
_Rosie says
Natalie, we actually just made squares, but if you follow the link, she has a source for a goldfish cookie cutter in the recipe. It's tempting!
Patty K. says
My John (a little over two years, now) had the identical job at the dishwasher. It started because he would reach in there and grab whatever silverware he could reach anyway. And I started saying, “Thank you!” a little over-cheerfully and taking them away from him. Then it became his job to hand them to me and HE started saying “Thank you!” as he handed them to me. Now he says thank you (and please and sorry!!) like it's second nature. Those are things I harped on forever with the older two. Who knew my first dishwasher would be so helpful in more than dishes!
Lisa G. says
My goodness – the haircut really gives him a big boy look! You're doing everything right, Rosie.
_Rosie says
Aw, thanks Lisa. You're so sweet. And I KNOW. Doesn't he look BIG?
Mary says
Looks even bigger with his hair cut!
Anitra says
My toddler loves to help clean (wiping, sweeping, “vacuuming”), and my four-year-old loves to help with anything in the kitchen (she's not so fond of cleaning now that I expect her to clean up after herself). I'm sure the little guy would love to help in the kitchen, too, but my kitchen is so small and cramped and I'm still not confident enough in my own skills that it's just too hard to have TWO little helpers without driving myself crazy.
Only wish we had room for a dishwasher…
Rebekah says
Rosie, I love your balance of rules (only a little bit of soap, don't stick your finger in the cupcakes) with mercy and understanding (allow Pippo to lick the drips). I know parents who get so excited over their rules, and so emphatic about the need for obedience, that they cannot see when they're exasperating their children! Instead of moving the cleaning products to take away temptation, for example, they would just insist that the child refrain from touching them, and become repeatedly angry when that does not happen. Yes, obedience is important! But sometimes we can make it a whole lot easier for our kids. 🙂
Elizabeth says
He looks so big, except for the photo with the towel wrapped around him. So sweet!
Lacey says
Love your ideas, Rosie! I have a girl just a couple months older than Pippo (almost two!) and she “helps” quite a bit, but I hadn't thought of moving her plates and utensils down low. I moved them this morning! Thanks, and keep them coming!!
Mary says
He is growing up so fast! I love his look of concentration with the tea bags. He reminds me of my son (who is now 22) who used to crease his eyebrows while focusing on a task. Thanks so much for sharing Rosie. It makes me miss those “little” years. guess I will have to wait for grandchildren (Please Lord let there be a few of them) LOL!.
Anne says
so cute!! he looks so perturbed with the dough on his fingers! 🙂 thanks for taking pictures of all these activities. it's great to see.
Donna L. says
Dear Rosie,
Thanks for sharing these adorable pictures of your *big* helper!
My youngest is only 26 months old, and loves to help, too–I think I may ask Santa for that stool
Could you please share the name of the beautiful bowls into which Pippo is sorting the tea–I just love their bright colors!
God bless your family
_Rosie says
Donna, they say “Yellow Talavera” on the bottom, and were a gift! I know my friend got them at TJMaxx or Marshalls, though, and I've seen other pieces in the same pattern at those stores since then!
Donna L. says
Thanks for letting me know! I'll be looking for them now–I appreciate you taking a moment out of your *busy* life to write back! Enjoy your little helper!
sarah says
What a great helper! I love the idea of getting Pippo to sort the tea. Ginger has been helping me cook lately. I give her the food scraps as I chop and peel veggies and she 'cooks' with them. We did have a bit of a moment the other night when DH came home from work and said “what is Tom Kitten eating” – Ginger had fed him a piece of onion peel. Now, we have established the cooking takes place at the kitchen bench and so does the eating!
She is also getting quite good at being a runner, when I need wipes or a towel grabbed for Tom Kitten.
We have the ikea stool too. We had it before Ginger (30 months) was born but she has claimed it has her own. The other day I had taken it to her room to measure up some curtains. She was in tears saying something which sounded like “where is mine stone” – I couldn't think what on earth she was asking for. It took a while to twig she meant her stool.
Becky says
You are such a thoughtful mother! What fabulous ideas!
Meredith_in_Aus says
Rosie, this would have to be one of my all-time favourite internet posts. I love it! You are doing a beautiful job as a mum, just as your mum obviously did for you. May the Lord continue to richly bless both you, the Lieutenant, Pippo,…and any others that come along. Thanks for a wonderful read.
Margo says
Love this post and the adorable photos! My little guy is now 4, but he started with almost the same set of tasks that Pippo is doing! Might be a boy thing. . . ? He also liked to pull in the empty trashcans after the trash truck went through.
Now we're working on dusting, making his bed, sweeping sidewalks, and setting the table. He is so proud to contribute in such a real way to family life!
NJKim says
Good morning! I'm a long time lurker, first time commenter. My youngest daughter is almost 3 and has been my little cooking/cleaning/shopping buddy while her big sisters are at school. Might I recommend a tip that has made a big difference in my stress level when having little kitchen helpers? It took me 3 children to come up with the idea to give them a single chop stick to “mix” the dry ingredients while we bake. It makes for a lot less flying flour than when they used a spoon! Those spoons can launch an impressive amount of batter all over the kitchen! We call the stick the “stirring stick.” I highly recommend giving him one to stir with! God bless you and your family – I'm learning so much from all of you!
Kathy says
Thanks for the stool recommendation. We live far away from Ikea, but we happened to be visiting Chicago last weekend. I love and hate that place, but I was able to get the things that I knew I needed, including that little stool for our bathroom. My almost two year old used to love unloading the dishes, but he seems to have moved on to sweeping and mopping. Sometimes I take a couple sections out of the Swiffer, and we just got a kid-sized broom for the coming birthday.
He doesn't talk much, so I'm lucky that he likes his apron. That's how he tells me he wants to bake. He puts on the apron and stands at the gate to the kitchen.
And he also hated my vacuum! Our house really is not at all soundproof, so my vacuuming got done, well, way less than it should. But now? He gets it out of the closet where it's stored and wheels it around. I really cannot keep the vacuum in the closet. So funny.