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Helping

I've been trying to get the kids to do chores around the house---it's "good for them" (TM) and I know that it's easier to get them to help out now than later. Today I asked Amanda to help take out the garbage and recycling. We took the trash bag and recycling out to the bins. Amanda dumped one of the recycling containers in to the bin, I dumped the other one in, and then I went inside to get a last piece of garbage for the trash bag. By the time I got back, Amanda looked at me proudly with the empty trash bag in her hands. "All the trash is in the trash bin!"

I managed to get the garbage back into the bag, and Amanda and I had a little talk about recycling. She was just trying to help, I know. Isn't there some easier way to teach them?

I am constantly amazed by how much Luke likes to help out, and how competent he is. When he clears his dish, he doesn't just take the dish to the counter, he scrapes the excess food off into the trash and puts the dish in the dishwasher, which puts him a step ahead of all of his family members. (He doesn't know whether the dishwasher is clean or dirty, but he's still ahead of most of his family members). He loves to carry the trash out to the garbage can. Today when Amanda pushed the recycling bin out to the curb, she wanted to leave it in the middle of the driveway. He very quickly took over and pushed it right next to the trash can where it belonged. I'm trying to remember if the girls were so helpful at this age. Whether they were or not, I'm trying to harness this helpfulness. Now if I could just convince him not to dump out the crayons, train tracks, legos, etc...

Helping by Shel Silverstein

Agatha Fry, she made a pie,
And Christopher John helped bake it.

Christopher John, he mowed the lawn,
And Agatha Fry helped rake it.

Zachary Zugg took out the rug,
And Jennifer Joy helped shake it.

And Jennifer Joy, she made a toy,
And Zachary Zugg helped break it.

And some kind of help
is the kind of help
that helping's all about.

And some kind of help
is the kind of help
we all could do without.

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Danlj said…
"... She was just trying to help, I know. Isn't there some easier way to teach them?..."

No.
June 15, 2009 at 9:49 PM
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