It's Sweeping Time!

I recall a time when I was working at a school and was in the kitchen getting an ice bag for an injured student when a teenage helper walked in to get something as well. We chatted a little bit while I got out a baggie and then the ice from the freezer. Continuing our chat she watched as I twisted the ice cube trays to get out some ice. "What?! Is that how you're suppose to do it?" she said. "What do you mean?", I asked. She responds, "I've always wondered how people get ice out so easily. I've always used a knife and picked out each ice cube." I laughed to myself. Had she really never known to twist the cube trays to loosen the ice first? Looking back on this moment many a time (I know it's weird I remember this ice cube story often) but...I'm reminded how even the simplest things can't be expected unless they are taught to you. Unless someone had shown this girl when she was little how to twist the tray to get out the cubes how could she be expected to know to do that? She couldn't.

I am always striving to provide new opportunities to teach my girls and show them how to do things. I mean, that's what parenting is, right? Well, this week I got a mini broom at the store that was just too cute to resist. So this weeks task to learn: how to sweep.

Kara is such a sweet girl and always wants to be mama's little helper. One of the frustration points with me is cleaning up after these girls eat. I don't understand how two girls can seriously miss their mouths so much. Maybe it's a secret contest of who can get the biggest spread of debris from one meal but I can never keep up with it. So, Kara is going to be trained to start sweeping underneath her own table. The first task is learning how to sweep at all. Then I'll tackle using a dust pan and then sweeping actually under the table for her food remnants.

I started with a square of masking tape on my floor. I made sure it was fairly large at first and can make it smaller as her skills improve. Then entered a big bag of Pom poms. I threw them across one side of the floor. Her task was to sweep all of the Pom poms into the square.

Sister had to get in on the action too.

Now while her approach might not be perfect, we're tackling one thing at a time. We'll start working on form after she gets a little success under her belt. Hope you'll take the time to train your children in the way they should go...and not just expecting them to magically arrive there.