100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 49: Curling

Today, I decided to teach Oliver how to play curling. It's my dream for him to be an Olympic champion.

*cough*

OK, no, I just decided to let Oliver sweep the kitchen. I, like most Americans I know, do not know the rules for curling.

I have two brooms. Why do I need two brooms? Because I have a toddler who likes to do whatever Mommy and Daddy does. So, every day, when I take out the broom and dust pan, Oliver gets excited and wants to sweep, too. I let him, but it involves him scattering the pile of debris every which way. Sweeping takes a long time. Well, today, Oliver was playing with his pom-poms, and I had a great idea. Why not let him practice sweeping with those? They're big, so he can see them, and they looked fun to push around with a broom.

And, so, I taught Oliver to scatter the pom-poms all over the floor (that can't backfire later, right?). Then, I handed him one of the brooms and told him he could sweep the pom-poms into the dust pan. He looked so eager and excited! He took the broom and got to work:

After a few minutes, he decided that the broom made his job more difficult, so he ditched it in favor of his hands:

He seemed to enjoy the task, but it didn't last for very long. Once he had most of the pom-poms in the dust pan, he decided he'd rather they went into the ice cream maker. He enjoyed mixing them with his dried pasta and then separating them back out again.

So, Oliver had fun, but the activity I'd invented wasn't the real winner. I still think it's creative, and I like that it's free, but Oliver just wasn't that interested in pretend sweeping. Pretend sweeping, or "Curling," as I jokingly named this activity, earns a C.

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 31: Pretend Chores

I'm no child expert. In fact, before I had Oliver, I'd spent almost no time around children at all. The only exception to that was when I babysat my younger cousins when I was fourteen.

I admit that I'm not a child expert, but, in my opinion, Oliver seems happiest when he knows he's helping out around the house. It seems to me that letting little kids have some responsibilities is good for them. The older they get, the more and more they can learn and try to do themselves. Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see how that can be a bad thing. By learning how to handle stuff around the house, kids won't leave home being clueless how to, say, do the laundry or clean the tub/shower or sweep their floors. They'll know what needs to get done and how to do it.

I've always let Oliver help me. He likes to put away the clean utensils, and he likes to hand me the clean plates and bowls to put away. When we're about to run the dish machine, he likes to help me pour in the soap, and then he starts the machine himself. He loads laundry and likes to start the washing machine. When I fold the clean clothes, he always takes an article and shakes it out, mimicking me. I'm not allowed to sweep anymore until Oliver sweeps first. I pull out the broom, and once I start sweeping, Oliver *begs* me for it. I actually have two brooms, but that doesn't do the trick. As soon as I sweep a pile, Oliver sweeps it all over the floor. So, I let him sweep first, and then I get to it.

Once Oliver masters a chore, he's intent on mastering another. I have a difficult time making sure the tasks I give him are age appropriate. He has a difficult time understanding why I won't let him help with some things, like opening the oven. Don't get me wrong; he stays back when I tell him to. Still, when the timer goes off, he races to the oven and tries to open it. I also don't let him clean the toilets, even though he'd like to. Now that I'm pregnant, I don't use any chemicals and just use the brush to keep the toilets from getting icky. I know Oliver could do it and would have fun, but I worry that it's just a little too gross of a chore to expose a kid to. I also worry he'd want to use the toilet brush every day, and I'd have toilet water all over the house or something. Anyway.

Today, I decided that it's OK to teach Oliver some pretend chores. I had to purchase a new thing of laundry soap today. I looked at the empty one and decided that I could wash it out and let Oliver use it for pretend play. He's always wanted to help me with the soap, but I've never let him (although I let him open the soap drawer in the washing machine). He can't measure out laundry soap himself, and it'd be too messy for him to pour it himself. But who says he can't do pretend soap?

I rinsed out the empty laundry soap jug. That sounds easy, but it took forever. That stuff is really concentrated! Once I felt that it was adequately clean, I gave it to Oliver. It was a moment he'd been waiting for. He was so, so excited.

Here's him enjoying his empty jug of laundry soap:

After mastering the art of getting the lid on and off, Oliver decided it was time to practice pouring into the machine:

He *loved* it. I could tell how happy he was to finally be big enough to have his own soap jug. It really makes me want to keep brainstorming to figure out new ways Oliver can help. As I write this, I'm wondering if I couldn't let Oliver use the toilet brush to pretend to clean out his toddler potties. I bet he'd love it! Oliver has always enjoyed chores, and I've always enjoyed giving him chores and letting him help. I think pretend chores are just as good because he gets to learn and mimic Mom without potentially hurting himself or making the house worse for wear. Pretend chores get an A+!

Update: The following day, I decided to let Oliver have the toilet brush. I showed him how I can clean his potty with it I gave him the brush. He looked so excited and immediately started drooling. Oliver drools when he's focused and learning something new.

Oliver examined the brush and...
...ran off to the bathroom! He was not interested in pretend cleaning his little potty. Oliver wanted to clean the real toilet. So, he did:

After I let him get it out of his system, I went back to his little potty and again demonstrated cleaning it with the toilet brush. He took the brush back and ran back to the toilet. So, toilet cleaning turned into a real chore and not a pretend chore. Oliver still enjoyed it thoroughly.

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 18: Dinner Assistant

I've learned that 20 months is not too young to help with dinner! Depending on what I'm making, I've let Oliver help me in the kitchen a little. Until today, I'd say the biggest jobs he's ever had are sprinkling cheese on top of the enchiladas before I put them in the oven or dumping the chocolate chips into the bowl for cookies.

Today, I was making dinner, and Oliver was complaining. He doesn't like it when I am busy cooking. I chopped a bunch of veggies and was putting them in a bowl, and then I realized that Oliver was busy trying to get a spoon out of the drawer. Now, he has a book called In the Kitchen that he got from the Health Department after his vaccinations. It's a simple book, but he loves it. It asks, "What happens in the kitchen?" Each page has a photo of a child doing some activity, from cracking eggs to grating cheese. One of Oliver's favorite photos is one of two girls with a spoon who represent, "stirring." Anyway, I watched Oliver get a spoon out of the drawer, and it occurred to me that he might want to stir the veggies. I dragged a chair over to use as a table, and I asked Oliver if he could stir the veggies for me. He did! I told him, "Good job, Oliver! You're such a good helper. You're stirring! Stirring."

Later, I grabbed a bowl and started to mash some kidney beans with a potato masher. I realized that bean mashing was a job Oliver could do. I sat down next to him and started mashing beans. I gave him the masher, and he got really into it. No joke, he probably mashed beans for fifteen minutes. He definitely knew the purpose of the activity, too, because he would really press down on the masher to squash the beans! It was super cute.

When he was done, I told him that I'd call Daddy and tell him what a good job he did. I called Andrew and told him that Oliver made dinner tonight and that he stirred the veggies and mashed the beans and everything! Oliver looked so proud, but (unfortunately) even helping with dinner didn't entice him to try to eat any. Boo.

I took about a dozen photos of Oliver mashing beans because I thought it was so cute. I realized halfway through that helping with dinner really is a great way to entertain a toddler (even a young one). Obviously, anything to do with heat and knives isn't a good activity, but stirring and mashing and sprinkling and maybe even tasting are perfect! Oliver's crabby time falls around dinner time, too, so it's a great way for me to keep him occupied and happy while I cook. I give this activity an A because it's (fairly) easy and genuinely helps!

Teaching a Toddler to Clean

I gave Oliver a bottle of vinegar & water and showed him how to clean with it. It didn't take long for him to get into the spirit of cleaning!

Oliver, the Washing Machine, and Hall of the Mountain King

I think we violated a few child labor laws in the making of this video.

What? I'm Helping!