My little guy has always taken an extreme interest in anything I am doing. Alhumdulillah, I enjoy it. It is Mama and baby bonding time for the most part. I emphasize a lot on clean up and putting things away once we are finished. He has heard me give him the same instructions since he was an infant and I think the results of that are starting to show. He has little 'jobs' around the house. He insist on no help from any grown up and actually gets very upset if we try and take those jobs away from him.
I believe in forming these habits at a young age. I do meet resistance about this- people will say to me "he will grow out of it"... and maybe he will. For now, it is working for us and Alhumdulillah he enjoys it. My belief is that- if it is what he knows from the start, he would prefer it over any other way.
I am sure his future wife will love me for this one- Inshallah ;) For anyone who thinks that men have no duties in the home, I should remind you that The Prophet (SAW) used to do chores around the home. He SAW would even sew his own clothes.
Does your man know how to sew?
Rigggght... so this goes to show that even the man has an essential role in the house hold. Please encourage your boys- even if they are teenagers to help out around the house.
When it comes to toddlers this new found Independence is great and everything... but I am going to be completely honest here. I love his attitude towards this Mashallah. What I don't love is OUR attitude towards it. I often notice this in all adults (myself included) we are so impatient with our children. We always strive to be on schedule. We are always trying to multi task. We are always trying to do too much. When it comes to our children, we cannot expect them to go at our pace. In fact, we should really learn how to slow it down. So many of the Mothers I talk with are very stressed with their day to day life. The hustle and bustle of life will always be there- but these precious years with your little one will not.
My advice to all the parents is to slow down. Take in these precious moments with your little ones. Let your little one spend the few extra minutes trying to figure out how the keys work. Enlist confidence in them at an early age. Reward good behavior with hugs and encouragement like-"Mashallah Kiddo"... you will see how a little encouragement can go such a long way!
Most importantly... do not forget what it felt like to be a child. Children are curious and above all children are innocent.
So true! Teaching these basic life skills from the start is very important. I would like to add that this should be for girls and boys both. I so believe in getting kids involved in our day to day activities, what we don't realize is that kids really enjoy helping out and being a part of the show at home and outside.
ReplyDeleteYeah its true that children are curious and in that curiosity they love to explore their surroundings and learn from them- its our job as parents to make their environment safe for them.
MashaAllah the little guy has grown up so much!