Dishes and Other Chores

KB has discovered dishes and shopping carts.

It all started with a little hand washing that turned into rinsing some tupperware. We have a double sink in our kitchen so KB was using one sink to "wash" her hands (ie. play in running water) and I was trying to finish rinsing dishes to go into the dishwasher. KB wanted to rinse some dishes so I gave her some harmless tupperware. Before I could blink she had an obsession.

Every day KB asks to do some dishes. She is getting very good at them too. She knows we empty the clean dishes out of the dishwasher first (which she puts most of them away). Then she gets her little stool and a towel (to catch all the water running down her sweet little arms) and waits for me to turn on the water. I am lucky at this stage that she can't quite reach the water handle. KB rinses all the dishes that go into the now empty dishwasher and tries to rinse out pans and such that need to be hand washed. I have to really watch where I put sharp knives otherwise she tries to rinse those as well (she does know they are sharp and has been very careful when she has gotten one, but I'm not letting her reach them if I can help it).

I love that KB loves to help out with chores. I try to remember to be patient and that these are important skills to learn. Some days I just want to hurry through cleaning the kitchen and don't want to take triple the time to let KB help.... I breath at that point and tell myself to stop and see the world through my 3 yr old's eyes. Then I let her get the stool and rinse to her hearts delight.

The other week we walked over to the mercantile with the intention of buying three things. When we went to grab a basket I noticed these little mini shopping carts for kids. It had the long pole on it so the parent can help steer if/when needed. I let Katie grab one of those and off we went. I didn't think she would like it, but she LOVED it. She insisted on getting the items off the shelf and even putting them up on the countertop when it came time to pay.

Now whenever we go to the mercantile she immediately grabs a little cart and asks "what get today?"