10 Ways to Get Your Toddler to do Chores

Sometimes it's hard to get man-cubs to do chores. Here are some recommendations from other mamas on what they've done to encourage their toddlers:

Brushing teeth

1. "You brush my teeth, while I brush yours" method.
2. Let your child do it first, and then they can spit and get a drink. Then it's mom's turn to brush their teeth. This way they can do it themselves AND get a second spit and drink. 

Putting up clothes/ toys

1. Pretend the folded clothing piles are foods to be delivered to the drawers-- pizzas, cakes, pies and other "special deliveries." Pretend the toys are going on trips to other lands. Or pretend you are capturing criminals and putting them in toy box prisons.
2. Pay them a penny for every thing they picked up.
3. Pretend you are elves and use "magic" to pick things up. Then when the older kids or dad get home you tell them elves came and cleaned the house.

Cleaning

1. A reward sticker chart. When they do a chore a certain number of times & they get a reward: toy, treat, special time with mom or dad, etc.
2. Pretend you are a deep sea divers looking for treasure (cleaning out from under their beds).
3. Make a list and let your little mark off things when you finish and pick the next job. 
4. Set a timer and race to see how much you can clean in x amount of minutes.
5. Sing while you work! It helps the time go by quicker and makes everything feel more fun. It worked for Snow White...

What do you do to help your toddlers do chores?

When you make a promise to a toddler...

He expects it to be kept.

So Man-cub D is taking his nap in a dry swimsuit this afternoon, if you were wondering how my morning went.

As mentioned in previous posts, we recently moved and our new apartment complex has a pool! So after a long morning of running errands (literally- I don't have a car so I pushed Man-cub D in a stroller) I told him that we could go to the pool. Little did I know that they close it every Monday for maintenance. So I left with a very disappointed toddler who refused to let me take his swim suit and swim diaper off.

Isn't it interesting how kids will remember and hold you to a promise but they struggle to remember a simple request? Like how I asked Man-cub D to go get a certain toy this morning and he got distracted halfway through. But after going to the pool, he couldn't stop asking to go back to the "bath." When I offered to give him an actual bath at home (which he usually LOVES) he refused. Unfortunately, there was no way for me to fulfill my promise.

What we could have been doing...

Luckily most toddlers (Man-cub D included) are very forgiving. I plan on making it up to him tomorrow when the pool reopens. But until then, this was a good reminder to me to make sure I can fulfill my promises, whether it is to a toddler or an adult.

Toddler Conversations: Outside?

The scene: we are inside.

Me: Hey D, I have to make an un-interrupted lengthy phone call to set up our internet. What would it take to make that happen?
D: Outside? (Translated: Well mother, that would require us to go outside at the hottest part of the day so I can sweat profusely and grind sand into every visible part of my skin.)
Me: Deal.

D later received a bath (much to his delight), and I am back-posting this because we finally have internet. So I guess he got the better end of the deal.

What to look for in a future home

Every time we move, I learn more about my preferences for a future home, and hopefully gain more experience so that when we do get a house, I won't be in over my head.

So, based off of my current and last apartments, here is what I know to be aware of:

• where lights are placed (in both apartments, there were places in the home that had to be lit by lamps because there were no lights in those areas)
• how big drawers are (the ones in our new apartment are way smaller! they don't even fit our utensil organizer)
• whether the doors close (apparently the ones in our new apartment don't, although they should. we've put in a work order for that)
• how high the ceilings are (our last apartment had 6 foot ceilings in some places...)
• the color of the carpet (do NOT get blue carpet. it shows everything. our new place has a lovely cream colored carpet that I don't feel like I have to vacuum several times a day)
• towel hangers (apparently most apartments out here don't come with a bar or ring for hand towels? how is that a thing?) 
• windows- do they have blinds? do they need curtains? how hard will it be to install curtain rods? do you have a man-cub who requires blackout curtains? 
• what kind of storage is there? (built-ins, closets, cabinets, pantries, extra rooms, etc)

I'm sure I'll learn more with our next move...

Road Tripping with Toddlers

Man-cub J plus daddy and I just finished moving to the midwest. We spent 17 hours total stuck seat belted in a car. Let me tell you...it's no party. We decided to leave early in the morning (4:40 a.m. to be exact) to beat the morning traffic. I thought that man-cub J would sleep for a few hours but he didn't. He did really well just eating some cereal in the back seat for the first hour. After that I moved to sit in the back with him and that's when things went downhill. I had purchased some cheap but super cool toys from a local thrift store. Man-cub J was excited about them for about an hour and then lost interest. We still had 16 hours to go. Somehow we made it through.

Here are some tips I learned along the way.

1. Thrift store toys are the way to go

My mom is really sweet and bought some toys from the dollar store for man-cub J. They were simple things like a flash light and some animal books but man were they effective. Man-cub J had never held a flashlight before and he was in awe of it. He also loved me reading the books over and over again and still likes them today.

I also purchased some used toys at a local thrift store. His favorite was a toy cash register. It had a calculator and a money drawer that opened when you pushed a button. Super cool. I also found this toy steering wheel that had buttons to stop and go and turn and also turn on the radio. That toy was a little bit too big for him, but he still enjoyed it. 

2. Get them snacks that will stop them up

At first I wanted to bring snacks that would keep them from getting constipated like fruit cups, but on that particular week man-cub J had diarrhea. I didn't want to stop to change his diaper 8 times a day so I bought snacks that would stop him up a little like cheese sticks, apple sauce, and crackers. 

3. Get them out of the car-seat every time you stop

The saddest part of the trip was when man-cub J had just HAD it and he would put his little arms up for us to take him out. Of course we didn't because we were driving but I felt so bad for him. It would be hard not knowing whats going on or how long the trip is going to take. I would take him out of his car seat every time we stopped even just so he could have a little stretch break. 

4. Switch off

By the time we hit 14 hours I was so done trying to entertain man-cub J. It is draining. Daddy was sick of driving too, so we switched off. After about two hours he wanted to switch back. He said that driving was easier than trying to entertain man-cub J. He was right. The break was nice though and I was able to stay calm for the last couple hours. 

5. Fly...Just do it

If flying is faster then do it. Save yourself hours of pain.

Airplane Toddler Travel: How it actually went

Despite my hopes of a smooth trip, we had an extra 3 hours added to our layover in TX, which meant that an 8 hour travel day turned into 11. Thankfully we only had a few meltdowns (and by "we," I include myself in the tally- I definitely had a meltdown during our layover.)

But instead of re-living all the negatives, here are some tips for unexpected layovers:

1. Make friends with other passengers. As soon as we arrived at the next gate, Man-cub D began to run around and greet people. His friendliness helped me meet other passengers who later played ball with Man-cub D, let him look at their vacation photos, watched our luggage while we made a few trips to the bathroom, and most importantly, kept us updated on the "maintenance" they were doing to our plane. 
2. Let your little run around! They've been sitting on a plane and/or will be sitting on a plane for hours, so you may as well let them get all the energy out that they can.
3. Tell yourself that no matter how bad it is, at least you aren't driving.

Airplane Toddler Travel

Man-cub D greeting the airplane passengers behind us. 

We move across the country next week! Papa M will be driving all of our belongings, and then Man-cub D and I will fly out to join him three days later. We were able to get a "practice run" in because we flew to Oregon for a family reunion last week. Here's what I learned from that trip:

• Car seats are bulky. Yes, you can check them at the curb or at the normal check in instead of at the gate, but I'd much rather not worry about it. So we will be borrowing one until we can fly out.
• I will only have the diaper bag (as my small item) and a backpack as my carry on. I will also have an umbrella stroller to transport Man-cub D in. That's it.
• To make this happen, I have to pack light. Here's what I'm eliminating:
• My laptop. One of our planes actually had small touch screens for each seat, and I figure I can just use my phone and save myself a few extra pounds in luggage.
• Clothes. I'm staying with my mom during the three day period when we move out to when we fly out, and I'm planning on borrowing some of my sister's clothing during that time so I don't have to pack as much. 
• Toiletries. Borrow at my mom's house. All I'll have are man-cub D's things, like his liquid multi-vitamins. 
• Books. I only need to bring one for Man-cub D. (It's a large look-and-find one that he loves).

What would you eliminate on a airplane trip?