Monday, June 9, 2008

Wiping and Drying

The other day my daughter spilled a bottle of water all over one of her little push-toys in the playroom.  I got a towel, and I handed it to her.  "Wipe it dry!" I said - not like I was punishing her, like "You spilled it, now you have to clean it up."  But more like I positively viewed her as old enough to get to wipe it up herself.  The look on her face as I handed her the towel was priceless.  She eagerly grabbed the towel and went to work wiping it up.  When she was finished, she even put the towel back into the drawer where it belongs, opening and closing the drawer all by herself.  

This gave me the idea of letting her help dry the dishes after I've cleaned them.  She loves this job.  And she is learning as drying techniques as she does it.  I've never really thought about drying a dish as a skill, but it is clear she is working on figuring it out.  This also gives me a chance to work in the kitchen more easily, and I think it is fantastic that she is establishing habits of thinking positively about work like this as we do it together, singing and laughing.

1 comment:

~Babychaser~ said...

What a great idea!I'm not sure if Tornado is ready for this or not, but I'll try it soon.

Hey, I'd love to have you join my Mr. Linky for today's Learning for Little Ones. I've told my blog readers about you too! :)

Blessings!