As soon as Samuel gets home from school (daycare), he demands that we help him take off his shoes and socks. I'd gotten tired of picking up little stray socks all over the house, and was determined to find a solution that would help maintain my sanity AND teach Samuel good habits. A few days ago, I bought a very small children's laundry basket at Target.
When I got it home, I explained to Samuel that his dirty clothes needed to go in the basket. To reinforce that idea, I helped him put his dirty socks in it, and then made a big deal about it-- complete with cheering and a hug.
Now? As soon as we take his socks off, Samuel jumps up and announces that he needs to put his socks in his basket, and takes off down the hall. Cheering about dirty clothes aaaaaalll the way. Tonight, as I undressed him for his bath, I had to wait for him to take his clothes into his room, to put in his basket.
Win.
I am in awe.
ReplyDeleteAwesome.
We have a child-size hamper with a turtle lid (IKEA, of course) that Gabe adores. When he was younger and there were dirty clothes on his floor, the gently reminder came in the form of, "Wow, Turtle looks really hungry! I think you need to feed him..." Then, when it was time to do laundry, it was, "Oooh, Turtle has a tummy ache...he must need to throw up!" (which of course small boys think is hilarious). Then Gabe would "vomit" each piece of clothing out of turtle and into the appropriate family hamper in the laundry room.
ReplyDeleteKeep at it, mama. The habits you're teaching now will make life waaay easier in a couple years! You'd be amazed how many of Gabe's Kindergarten classmates don't even pick up their own dirty clothes, let alone are able to sort laundry, put it in the washer, take it out of the dryer, fold and put away like our little man can!