Toddler's Top 5 Today

A family friend once gave Clyde a monster truck toy. It was very well used to the point that the chassis was detached to its body case yet he still plays with it. Twice already that we fix it that even the glue gun can no longer do the justice. He still plays with it. I have to say, that toy is very well-loved. The fewer their toys, the more they'll give appreciation to it.

Although, I really am convinced that we are not obliged to buy our kids expensive toys, especially when we don't have the budget; I also learned that quality time is better than quantity of toys. Don't tell me I'm a killjoy mom. Clyde has lots of toys - gifts and hands-me-down from relatives and as mentioned earlier from friends. But, most of the time, Clyde was more than happy to play with me - my walking fingers and talking hands - than his not-so-long-ago bought toys. He even is giving more importance to my art.

Two of his favorite things: the all-time favorite, family portraits and his recent addiction in everything mechanical, elevators. Can you spot baby number 2?

 

At the dawn of his three years, I'm proud to say that he is not-so-secretly loving household chores! I myself loves to do the dishes. He cooks, I scrub is the current situation in our house. The two years old sweeps the floor. And just recently, he helped me wash the dishes. He scrub the plates and cups while I do the second scrubbing -just to be sure- and rinsing. He scrubbed away while explaining to me how the bubbles (suds) will wash away the germs and make our chinas clean so that we could eat again using these bacteria-free utensils. Yup, I have a professor in the making. Involving him this early on household chores is a step forward to a more fluid distribution of work in the future!

Surprisingly, there are a lot of simple tasks toddlers can do. Get things from here to there. Fold clothes. Separate the spoons from forks. Wipe the table. Sweep the floor. Close the door. Etcetera. It will give them confidence that they can do things, it will assure them that we trust them; and as we expand and increase the complexity of the tasks, they will grow as helpers in the house, not spoiled masters that whims on the littlest things. Maybe, I'll be spoilt on waking up with breakfast ready, complete with freshly brewed coffee. Ahh, I could dream, can't I?

And giving them responsibilities is a win-win-win situation. Who needs a maid when you can't afford one and have kids that love household chores?
And if you can, maybe you could use the salary fund as reward fund aka quality family time together -shopping maybe, out-of-town, movie dates perhaps? Besides, it will benefit them in their adult years. Smart and practical.

Creativity is defined as the invention of any new thing. This can be a new solution, artwork, way of thinking and even a new way of playing with an old toy or ordinary objects. Encouraging creativity in toddlers can help them to cope with the demands of a rapidly changing world and prepare them to adapt in a variety of settings as they progress through childhood.

Kids don't need to paint, sculpt nor compose to be called creative. I'm amazed at how my two-year old shows his creativeness. It's his mindset to produce art.

• He gets a paper bag; put everything inside the cabinets in it and called it shopping.
• He put all the clothes he could get into a pile. He is creating a mountain.
• The freshly pressed clothes was tumbled down. I asked him why he did it. It's the London bridge falling down.
• He imagined himself as the elevator. So no airplane spoons for him. I need to press his nose and wait for the elevator to arrive and open before giving him his spoonful. After swallowing, he will explain that the food will go down his stomach, ride the rollercoaster of his intestines and come out as kaka (poop). Professor indeed.
• I let him play hide and seek on a blank corner of our room. He thinks he's inside an elevator.
• He put alphabet letters and shapes on his dump truck and mix it with a big spoon. He is cooking.

#throwback

And many more...

Toddlerhood is the time to explore new things, this is the peaked height of their curiosity. Let's let them. Just make sure they are supervised.