My Little Helpers

My kids love to help me around the house. The girls especially love to act like mini moms. This morning both girls wanted to wake up Montre. Evelina and Montre can aggravate each other at times so I sent in Kiara. From down the hall I heard her say, "Moooontreeeee, wake up sleepy head! Sleepy head wake up!" It was so darn adorable, but I'm sure Montre wasn't so pleased. The girls also love to help me clean, well, try anyway. I bought a small dust buster that can be extended into a small vacuum for my classroom. When I brought my school stuff home for the summer, the girls found the vacuum and were so excited. They thought this vacuum was made just for them. They actually fight over who gets to use it first. Unfortunately, their vacuuming skills combined with the less than satisfactory sucking power make their vacuuming a step above the effectiveness of that little corn popper push toy that toddlers love to use. I still have to go over their work with the regular vacuum.

Montre is also a great help around the house and is becoming quite dependable. Of course, I have to be very specific on what I want him to do. If I give him general directions, I usually end up frustrated. As a mom of a pre-adolescent I've learned to give detailed and clear directions and also to pick my battles. One example is when I asked him to clean out his backpack from the end of the school year. He had already used the backpack to carry his swim items to the pool and I guess he didn't mind having his markers and scissors next to his sunscreen and pool pass. I, however, thought this was not a good idea and asked him to clean it out. Another time I asked him to clean his desk and he did so by throwing everything into a drawer. Later when I checked his work, I tried to show him how to organize better. I really appreciate all that Montre does. Every year when he goes away to YMCA camp for a couple of weeks, I realize how much he helps me and I usually send him an email at camp thanking him for being such a great son and big brother.