Jobs | Addie at 4 Years Old

Some time back, I had mentioned that Addie had some little jobs/chores that she does around the house. At the time her most important one setting the table. Now that she is growing and getting bigger she has a few more jobs on her list.

As a member of our family, we feel that it is important for her to help out around the house, not only to make the load lighter, but to help her feel that she is a vital member of our team. As Ian grows, some of Addie's jobs will be passed down to him and Addie will grow into other jobs around the house.

Here are some of the ways Addie helps out around our home.

1. She puts her own clothes away in her drawers. I fold them and separate them for her so that she can easily put them away.

2. She separates and puts away my silverware (except for knives) and plastic cooking utensils.

 

3. She does her schoolwork to the best of her ability.

4. When I am folding a load of laundry, her job is to match up all of the socks for me so I can fold them.

5. On the day that I wash towels, she folds my washcloths.

6. She loves to help me cook, so when an opportunity comes up for her to help in the kitchen I let her. Here, she helped make a birthday cake for Grandma. Then she licked the bowl.... and wanted to take a spoon to the batter already in the cake pan. She wanted to eat the batter "as is" instead of baking it!

7. And then there is the self-imposed job of keeping track of Ian and telling him what she wants him to do. At the moment it was helping her watch the cake bake. She literally sat infront of the oven the entire 34 minutes it took to bake the cake!

8. She is also responsible for picking up her toys and putting them away.

Addie is at the stage where she loves to help (we also have her convinced that helping us is the cool thing to do). Sometimes, you can hear her telling Ian, "I have to go do my jobs. I'll be right back." She sounds so proud of herself. And as her mom, I'm pretty proud, too.