Something I’ve really been trying to do lately, is include my toddler in my everyday life.
It’s easy to have picture-perfect expectations of what this looks like (thanks to social media), but in reality…it’s much slower, messier, and definitely a lot less productive than if I just did everything by myself.
I recently shared more about why I’ve been trying to include my toddler in everyday life here…but in this post, I wanted to show what that actually looks like in our home.
What This Actually Looks Like in Our Home
Cleaning the Living Room
Cleaning the living room doesn’t just look like quickly picking everything up anymore…
- Folding a blanket turns into a game of peek-a-boo.
- Picking up books turns into “a walk on top of books” party or storytime.
- Putting away blocks turns into “let’s make a tower”.
Sometimes I feel like I’m going backwards. 😁 But she’s having so much fun “playing with mama”, and honestly…so am I (when I let myself slow down enough to enjoy it).
Washing the Dishes
Washing dishes sometimes looks like her “washing her hands” 5 million times…literally.😅
Sometimes she “helps” rinse dishes or hand me dishes to put away, but most of the time it’s just her playing in the water by my side while I get the job done.
Doing Laundry
Doing laundry is definitely faster without little helpers, but it’s also so sweet to see her want to “help” me.
And honestly, there is so much she can do:
- Sitting on my lap while I’m sorting the laundry.
- Getting inside the laundry hamper and playing peek-a-boo with mama.
- Handing me the dirty clothes so I can put them in the washer.
- Giving her the clean, wet clothes so she can put them in the dryer.
- Getting inside the laundry basket of freshly washed clothes and handing them to me to fold.
And her absolute favorite part of doing the laundry with mama…getting to push the buttons to start the washer. That’s the best!
It’s definitely slower, and sometimes quite trying for my patience to do laundry with her, but it is amazing to see how much of a “help” she can be. 🩷
Baking
Baking with my daughter is definitely messier and more chaotic, but so much fun (at least sometimes 😉).
It usually starts out great….I measure the ingredients, she dumps them in the bowl. Then before I can even blink, she’s got her fist in the bowl, straight to her mouth, saying, “Nummy.”
Everything is “nummy” until she tries the baking powder or baking soda…those come back out real quick. 😅
And making chocolate chip cookies…. let’s just say it’s a wonder that any chocolate chips even make it into the cookies. 😂
But she loves it, and we are having so much fun together, and I’m learning that’s more important than a perfectly measured recipe.
Sweeping & Mopping the Floor
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This one definitely feels like I’m cleaning in circles sometimes. 😅 We got her a pretend vacuum and cleaning set and she loves to be right there with me.
When I’m vacuuming, she runs to get her vacuum, and we vacuum the carpet side by side. 😁
However, mopping is definitely better than sweeping or vacuuming. I don’t know about your toddler, but playing with water is the “best” activity in the whole wide world for my little girl. So when I pull out the mop bucket, she gets all excited and runs to get her play mop.
What this actually looks like…..Mama mops the floor while she dunks her mop into the bucket of water over and over again. She also might decide that her doll….or her socks…or her stuffed animals “need” a bath and they get thrown into the mop water as well. 🙈 Oh what fun! 😅
What I’m Learning Through This
These moments may not look like much from the outside…but they’ve been changing so much in me.
I’m learning that including her doesn’t mean things get done faster…it means they get done together.
I’m learning to see these moments as part of what God is doing in this season.
I’m learning that even though it doesn’t look productive and is definitely not efficient, that maybe…this is exactly what this season is meant to look like.
I shared more about the heart behind this here, if you want to read that too. 🤍
