Well it’s about that time of the year again when many of us begin to spring clean. All too often a hard task because we have our little ones under foot not really helping since we are trying to get things done quickly it raises our stress level. This can cause us to begin to go a little stir crazy trying to entertain her as well as get things done.
How about stepping back and regrouping and including her in a task or two. Yes these tasks may take a little longer but in the end you are teaching her how to clean and having some fun while you are at it.
Have a few baskets one for keep clothing, one for give away and one for unsure. Then have her help put the clothes in the right basket. If they are different colors this would be a great time to work on color identification with saying things like Can you put this shirt in the blue basket, or these pants go in the green one. This also helps them when its time to give them away especially to a friend or younger sibling that these clothes we are giving away.
Get a spray bottle of water and a rag or paper towels and let her clean the windows. If you house is like ours the windows that she can reach are never really clean anyways with them wanting to peek out the window.
When you get to the kitchen, give her a wet washcloth and let her wash the bottom of the cabinets. It may not be perfect or perhaps may not even need to be done but it will help her stay busy while you are cleaning other areas.
Giving your toddler small jobs like this will help them feel involved with the cleaning, it also helps teach them that what we as moms do is hard work. Another positive is your teaching them how to clean up which is a great start to having them help with chores as they get older. If you do have to redo the windows or the cabinets don’t stress on it, they were jobs on your list already and it helped keep her helping.
I hope your spring cleaning is not to stressful and you are taking time to take care of you.
Until next time
