You know how your two year old can “help” you by bringing you diapers for the baby, putting away a few toys, and stirring a plastic spoon around in some soapy water as a way to “wash dishes?” Some of those little fella jobs are really just “here let me keep you busy so that I can keep you from painting the cat with plaster of Paris” right? But it also teaches responsibility and a servant heart. So moms of toddlers and preschoolers: Keep teaching your kids to work and serve and help!!!
As tough as it is to let your little ones help you, especially knowing that you could do it forty times faster by yourself, I’m here to tell you that it is so very worth your extra effort! Even when our oldest was 7, I could tell a huge difference in his ability to really help ease my work load. Now that I’ve got kids 9, 12, 14, and 16? Well, I haven’t scrubbed a toilet in years. We put these kids to work, and it’s a huge benefit to our household.
My favorite thing from today is this: Not only were my kids working hard, they were teaching each other. Asa (16) has been our expert guacamole whipper-upper for several years. I asked him to make some to go with our lunch today. Then I asked him to pull Elias (12) in with him and teach him how to make it. It was awesome. They did the work from start to finish, and now, thanks to Asa, Elias also knows how to make this great dip.
We devoured this Spicy Avocado Dip with our burritos today. So good!
This afternoon, the boys pulled out our Risk game. I loved hearing Asa and Justus (14) teach our younger boys to play. Even Malachi (9) was figuring it out.
Teaching your kids new skills is great. Letting older kids teach younger kids? Even better. I’m thankful for hearing my olders teach my youngers today. The conversation was sweet, the arguments were few, and we all got to eat awesome guac. Happy day. :)
Now your turn. Share what you’re thankful for! Leave a comment on this post letting us know how God is working in your life. If you’ve written a blog post about what you’re thankful for, leave the link in the comments so we can visit your blog to read about it. We love sharing and reading about God’s blessings!