"Oh! I can help you!" are words eagerly spoken in our house by our six and three-year-old kids multiple times a day.  Sometimes, I dread hearing it and often catch myself sighing and quietly thinking "ugh! I just want to get this DONE!"  I have to take a deep breath and remind myself to let them help.  Let them happily assist in ways they can while they are so eager to do so. 

I know its hard.  It takes almost every fiber of patience I have in me to watch their tiny fingers clumsily fold washcloths and match socks or haphazardly place clean silverware into the correct spots in the drawer.  It's even harder not to "fix" the help immediately afterwards! But, in the lives of children, it is so important to let them help you. Please, mama, let them help you! Teach them how to help others as best as they can. 

You see, you, mama, are the first teacher those little ones have.  Teach them certain skills while they are so eager to be helpful.  In learning to help, kids are gaining much more than a basic understanding of the task at hand.  They're building self-confidence in the satisfaction of completing a task.  They're learning empathy by exerting their willingness to be helpful when noticing a task that is being completed or that needs done.  They're learning responsibility in helping care for the communal home they share with you!  They're learning that helping and caring for the home, pets, and their items is being a positive and productive part of a community.  A home, for small ones, is a community, after all!  They're learning the value of teamwork and building the family routine dynamic.

Willingness to be helpful and age-appropriate chores shape happy, well-rounded, loving and responsible little ones who grow to develop a help-oriented mind set.  When helping and chores are embraced and a part of the daily norm for the whole family, clean-up time becomes less of a fight and much more second nature. 

Do my kids always clean their rooms or agree to it happily? Heck no!  But they fight it much less after being allowed to help with other things around the house.  The sense of accomplishment when they finally fold a washcloth correctly, match a pair of socks, or successfully measure an ingredient for baking and cooking is the best thing to witness as their mom!  They're learning. They're building fine motor skills.  They're problem-solving and using practical moments to expand on deeper learning concepts. 

So, dear mama, take that breath.  Roll your eyes to the side a few times, Lord knows I do.... then make another cup of coffee and let them help with whatever they're asking to in the best way that they can.  Relish the moments that your children see you-- see you working hard, and want to help in any way they feel they can.