Chores?

Has anybody assigned "chores" to their Two- or 3-years old yet? Just curious as I came across a posting on Parent Center in their "Teaching Values" section.

According to the article:

"Children need chores. Helping out around the house teaches social and family responsibility. It gives your child a sense of accomplishment and pride and helps her learn practical skills...."

"Two-, 3-, and 4-year-olds love to be helpers. Harnessing this natural impulse makes starting chores easy...."

For Erik, we've been slowly assigning him "chores" such as putting his clothes into his own hamper but sometimes he loves to use that IKEA hamper and pretend he's a Jellyfish, thanks to Nemo, and demands that we "bounce" on him like Marlin and Dory. We've also seen Erik taken an interest in setting the table up for meals, which he did so ON HIS OWN, to our surprise on evening, but we haven't asked him to do it as a routine...but probably will now :o) hahaha!

The site also listed out some age-appropriate task examples such as (read more here):

At 2, your child should be able to:

Place dirty clothes in a hamper

Put a dirty diaper in the bin

Pick up toys after playing with them

Place napkins on the table

Sort lights and darks for the laundry

At 3, your child should be able to:

Sort socks by color or possibly match them

Water a plant

Feed a pet

Clean up her own spills

Get her own simple snack ready

Remove her own dish from the table

Help wash a car

Karalyn's Goody Jar

A few years ago I was shocked to find this entry written by my mother in my baby book when I was a year old: "very naughty and hard headed." How in the world could she have made that assessment about me when I was barely even old enough to walk?

What goes around comes around, it seems. A kid doesn't have to walk in order to have a stubborn streak but it sure doesn't help matters either. Karalyn definitely has my temper and hard-headedness. She will absolutely not give in to anything or anybody. I've never seen anything like it. Karl just laughs. "I have," he says. "She's just like you."

Today I bought a glass canning jar and a heavy bag of medium-sized, twinkly, mulit-colored "stones." The teachers at CCLC suggested I try this. I call it Karalyn's Goody Jar. It's a reward system. For each good behavior, Karalyn will have the privilege of putting a colored stone in her jar. When the jar is filled up she can have a treat. I haven't decided what treat yet, but something she likes. Maybe more playdoh. I just showed her the jar and stones. She was in a bad mood. She didn't respond. *sigh* No stones in the jar yet.

Sarah and Tara are going to implement this reward system in the classroom too, so the whole concept will be reinforced by them as well. I'm hoping Karalyn will catch on soon. I'm looking forward to her putting lots of stones in her Goody Jar.

Hey Karalyn, did you read the fortune before you put the cookie in your mouth? Whoops. Guess not.

6 Random Things About Me

I was tagged by Allibrew to share six random things about myself.

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post these six rules on your blog.
3. Write 6 random things about yourself.
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person you have tagged know by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is posted.

Six random things about Tabitha:
1. I've attempted to play musical instruments 3 times in my life (Violin, Clarinet, & Piano)
2. Mosquitos loooooove me, in fact, I got over 10+ bites to prove it while standing in the park near dusk with Erik & Chhimi (FYI, they got NONE!)
3. I am a junk food addict, love the salty chips & fry foods
4. I was a Colorguard (aka flag spinner) in high school
5. I love to travel and already trying to plan out the next trip (probably back home to Bhutan...we'll see though)
6. I can't wait until I finish my Master's program (semester just started...SIGH!)

I tag (participation optional):
Shelby
AdventureDad
Brenda
Oliver
Kristy
Anyone else who still visits this site :o) hee hee

Over The Top Birthdays?

Have toddler birthday's just gone over the top these days?! I just saw a Craigslist ad that somebody is wanting to hire one or two "Polynesian" dancers for a Toddler Party?! The dancers will teach the toddlers how to dance.

Toddlers by definition are ages 1 - 4 year olds. Even if the toddlers are at the cusp of the older range...do they really need to hire specifically polynesian dancers?! What happened to popping in a DVD and telling the kids to "move about"?! HAHA!

Alright, which one of you are throwing an Hawaiian theme toddler party?! Let's get this luau started!

Wallypogs

Just a quick post to share the info on a swim/survival float school for kids. This is "local" (as in Loomis...just a quick jaunt down Auburn Folsom Blvd. for you Folsom-ites!).

http://www.wallypogs.com/

We haven't started swim lessons with Jackson yet, so he isn't the master swimmer that Erik is! We'd like to do it soon though....ah yes, getting back into a bathing suit after having a new baby...yeah, maybe not REAL soon!

Children Learn What They Live

Found this little poem online and thought it was worth sharing.

Children Learn What They Live
Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph. D.

If children live with hostility,
they learn to fight.

If children live with ridicule,
they learn to be shy.

If children live with tolerance,
they learn to be patient.

If children live with encouragement,
they learn confidence.

If children live with praise,
they learn to appreciate.

If children live with fairness,
they learn justice.

If children live with security,
they learn faith.

If children live with approval,
they learn to like themselves.

If children live with acceptance, and friendship,
they learn to find love in the world.

Donate

Please donate to the Chinese Red Cross