We’ve all been there: the laundry is sky high, waiting to be folded and put away; the floors are rank and need a fierce vacuum and mopping; linen needs to be stripped from beds and replaced with fresh sheets; windows need a good wiping down, and the bathrooms…let’s not even go there. Somehow my home seems to enter this state on a weekly basis, despite my best efforts. Come Friday, Chore Day, I have my work cut out for me. During the week, I admit it, keeping busy with the kids makes it unlikely that I will undertake anything more than basic maintenance housework and, with two small kids around the house, somehow this Queen’s palace descends into chaos by week’s end. We have Chore Day on a Friday so that our home can be in order for the whole family to enjoy over the weekend. But how am I going to get all of this work done when there are two small people underfoot, requesting snacks and up-turning baskets of clothes I just folded; trekking sand in from the sandpit across the floor I just vacuumed and playing giddyup horsey on the steam mop power cord? Before we made the move to eliminate the TV from our home, I would have flicked on the ol’ telly and had Master C preoccupied (and “out of my hair”) while I got down to business of getting our house organised for the coming weekend. But now? Now I put him to work.

“I met a little dusty gnome,
he said it’s time to clean our room.
Round, round, round
Swish, swish, swish
Clean our room.”

Waldorf tidy-up verse

Learning through imitation

A vital element of Waldorf early childhood education is learning through imitation. Young children yearn to participate in the household activities they see their caregivers undertake and, if given the opportunity, will eagerly assist you in whatever task you welcome their “help” with. Now, of course, you and I both know that a toddler’s kind of help is not terribly helpful at all. Yes, it will take longer to get the job done. No, they won’t do any actual proper cleaning at all. Not at first anyway. But this is a lesson for both Mama and child. For the child, he learns skills that will assist him in meaningfully contributing to the running of his home and family, building in him self worth and a sense of accomplishment. For the mother, it is a lesson in patience: a gift our children give us almost daily.

Here are some of the tasks Master C, aged 3, helps with on Chore Day:

• Using empty laundry baskets to collect toys left on the floor, then putting everything away in its home
• Vacuum using the Electrovac while I use the big vacuum
• Mop with his kid’s mop while I use the steam mop
• Sweep the deck outside with his kids broom
• Clean the bathtub / wipe down benches & cupboard doors / shine windows with a rag and a spray bottle full of diluted vinegar
• Put clothes into the washing machine; hang wet clothes on clothes horse (alongside me)
• Sort clean laundry into piles according to ownership
• Empty cutlery (no knives!) from the dishwasher
• Wipe down the dining table and placemats

Setting up a cleaning station for the kids

Master C runs to his ‘Cleaning Station’ as soon as he knows there is a job to be done. I purchased this kids’ broom/mop/dustpan kit from a local toyshop for maybe $30. It’s worth its weight in gold. These are just smaller versions of the real deal, which is quite important to kids. So do make sure if you are buying something similar for your kids, don’t buy anything that looks too much like a toy. They will smell a fake a mile away, and you will soon be in a battle for your own broom if they view yours as superior to their own. In addition, you might also consider providing your child with the following:

• diluted vinegar or just water in a small spray bottle
• rags
• duster of some variety (feather duster or a Swiffer refill works a treat)
• a bucket to carry all of these items around the house to various “jobs”

If you are looking to more actively involve your children in the household chores, you may find this fantastic chart from The Happy Housewife useful in knowing what is age appropriate for your child. I know my kids won’t always be this enthusiastic about helping out around the house so I’m going to run with it while I can! Do your kids help out around the house? How old are they? What do they do? Drop me a line in the comments below.

xx Robyn