Little Bug has enjoyed “helping” me with household chores since she learned to walk, but I decided age 4 was a good age for me to start teaching her certain chores that she is responsible for on a daily or as needed basis.

Shortly before she turned four I told her, “Little Bug, when you turn four, you get to start doing some chores to help your family out around here!” She was thrilled with the idea.

My grandmother gives me money to shop for the girls for Christmas and this past year I bought the Melissa and Doug Responsibility Chart for Little Bug.

After she turned four one day we got the chore chart out and decided what Little Bug’s chores would be. I already had in my mind what I thought would be a good starting point for her.

Her chores are:

• set table
• empty dishwasher
• clean up room
• put clothes in wash
• put toys away

Every morning after she wakes up and gets dressed, she goes into the kitchen and puts two plates on the counter so I can make their breakfast and put it on the plates. She also picks two cups for her and Sweet Pea to use throughout the day. I moved all the kid plates, cups, bowls, etc. to a cabinet that is low so that Little Bug can reach. The first few days we started this, I had to remind Little Bug to do this. But after about a week, I walked into the kitchen one morning and Little Bug had, without me reminding her, gone in the kitchen and put the two plates out, chosen a cup for her and her sister and filled them with water! She was quite proud of herself, and so was I!

Little Bug puts away the kid plates and bowls from the dishwasher. I put together all the sippies and then she puts them away in the cabinet.

Little Bug is responsible for cleaning up her room after Room Time. Since starting Room Time with her at 14 months I have helped her clean up her room after she plays which has meant I clean up about 80% and she cleans up 20%, if that! So now, I don’t even go in there while she is cleaning up. I am hoping this will make her more aware of the messes she makes! If she complains about the mess I tell her, “If you don’t like cleaning up big messes, don’t make big messes!”.

After bathtime, Little Bug gathers the dirty clothes and puts them all in the laundry basket to be washed. If I am folding laundry and Little Bug is around, I will set piles of things for her to put away. I had three stacks on the coffee table one day and I told Little Bug she needed to put them away before naptime. I left her to decide when to put them away. While laying Sweet Pea down for a nap, I heard the pitter patter of little feet coming down the hallway (which is a no no when I am laying Sweet Pea down). Little Bug entered the room and said, “Excuse me, but I am just putting these away.” She had the swimsuits in her hands and walked to Sweet Pea’s closet, opened the door and put them away and then left the room as quietly as she came! I was so proud of her!

At some point in the evening (before dinner or after dinner and before bathtime) we do a quick clean up of the living space in the house. Little Bug is responsible to see that all toys are in their proper place.

During Learning Time today I told Little Bug that she was going to get to learn how to clean the bathrooms! This actually went WAY better than I thought it would. She was a huge help and we managed to clean both bathrooms (wiping countertops and sinks, cleaning mirrors, scrubbing toilets, sweeping floors and moping floors) in a little over half an hour! She helped wipe counters, was fascinated with the toilet cleaning process, cleared the floors by putting bath mats, stools, etc., out of the bathrooms so I could sweep and mopped her bathroom floor.

One time when I was reminding Little Bug that she needed to do her chores, a little voice in the background piped up saying, “Meeeeee!!!!”. That was Sweet Pea’s way of telling me she wanted a chore to do too. So cute!

I desire to instill in my children that as a family we work together to accomplish the things that need to be done around the house! Many hands makes light work for everyone.

- Elaine