The Jolly Green Giant Toddler.
There are days, I tire of being a giant toddler.
I really don't want to re-assemble the same 5 piece pig puzzle and re-read the same Bob The Builder book (SweetBabyJeebusPLEASEJustPickADifferentBook!) a frazillion times an hour.
The experiment: Encourage Toddler to play without me SOME OF THE TIME.
The result: He wants to help me ALL OF THE TIME.
Everything I can do he can do better!
Apparently, my chores and tasks are a new and improved form of play. From cleaning to laundry to blogging. He wants IN. fw872adsjkh3409274937! (see what I mean, he just typed that, even contributing to my oft-neglected blog; so THAT explains the increased subscriber).
Our trees have lost their leaves and he wants to rake every chance he gets. The. boy. wants. to. RAKE.
Give it to me straight*. Is this a phase? I'm hoping NOT.
*Lies graciously accepted.
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This is a male child. Of COURSE it's just a phase. ;)
Oh trust me, he'll grow out of it soon enough and then you'll be wracking your brain, trying to figure out how to get him to do something as simple as change the toilet paper roll when it's necessary. And wake up before noon.
But I get where you're coming from. Really, I do!
Nifty picture!
Awww he wants to help! Diva is at that stage, though she's actually quite good. She'll bring her dishes and cutlery to the kitchen and put them on the counter. She'll clean up her room when told. She's not even 2yrs old yet!
Yip, just a phase!!! As soon as it's over, a different one is just waiting excitedly to drive you up the wall! When you read my post today, you will see that I have a similar problem - I have tried the WRONG approach by leaving my 2-year old to her own devices for TOO LONG, resulting in utter chaos. Best let the boy rake.
Of course it's a phase, silly. When he is 17, and you need him to rake, he'll be nowhere near you.
What mental p mama said. As soon as he's big enough to actually be a help, he'll be hiding from you.
Awesome hire him out
You were lyin' on the ground to take that great photo!
It's not a phase - sorry! My kids are ALL still following me around imagining that they can do everything I do BETTER! Well ... not the trash or the dishes or the laundry or the dusting or the bed making ... I guess they do grow out of some of it!
Have a good day - see you - Kellan
I'm just AMAZED by God's details to creation. Your photography really brings it out.
look at the lines and prints on that leaf!!!
Totally a phase. Ha ha.
My youngest are twins and they don't want to play with me at all. It would seem refreshing except ALL of their play includes disaster and clean up and all around nightmare messes. Playing without me is pretty rotten.
In all seriousness I think its a hard phase to go through. When you can't shower or pee alone I know it gets OLD mightly quick!
Love the photo firstly, and LOL I can quite relate!
Encourage the racking, encourage the racking! I swear this age when all they want to do is help, I encourage it as much as possible in hopes that when they become teenagers maybe some of it will stick. ;)
Lovely image. Great focus on the leaf with the blur in the foreground.
Love the photo!!! My kids hardly let me cook. I'm the bad mom with my kids in front of the stove stirring and cooking. I can't even "take over" to actually cook anymore!
Wow. I would love it if my son (almost the same age as yours) would try to do some chores around here. He never seems interested in what I'm doing. Oh, wait -- no, he likes the dishwasher. Because things inside of it are breakable or sharp. Of course.
The good news is... it probably is a phase.
The bad news is... it's probably going to last a year or two!
Oh, stunning stunning shot.
It will last until he HAS to do it...then it is over.
I have been really interested to see the difference between my two boys. One can entertain himself fabulously. The other literally needs a schedule for the entire day if he is home from school. And, what that meant when he wasn't in school is that he wanted ME all the time. So... I totally relate to this post. I just think it is interesting how kids come one way or the other. Like their personalities are formed in them when they are born :).
Hey! Join us at Girl's Night Out tonight. It's a virtual bawl that only takes as much time as you have. Check out my post today to learn more about it :).
Oh, yes, it's so a phase.
I will say he's turning into a mighty find photographer, although his keyboarding skills need improving.
You know all of those buttons a mother can push because she is the one who installed them? Well, guess what? (The big secret is this) While we were all busily installing our chilruns buttons - they were installing ours!
This is so my life!! My only solice is our weekly library trips so that he can get NEW books.. I finally bought him his own apron (much to my husbnad's chagrin), and broom since he wants to be a helper. The "help" is seldom that though. Oh well.. time flies quickly, soon we will have to BEG them to do the tiniest chore!
Ooooh, beautiful macro close up of the leaf. Love it!
Maybe figure out an activity where he actually wants to help you do something PRODUCTIVE. Raking sounds productive and like something that will require a vast amount of energy usage. ;)
A phase? Perhaps. Just keep trying to encourage him to play solo. It really is a good thing for them to learn to do.
This is why God invented siblings.
My brothers used to do that....especially the older one when he was the baby. Loved playing Mr. fix-it and housework.
first off...love the photo.
secondly...hilary stole my comment. tee hee
thirdly, I'm totally laughing because it is often my suggestion to actually ENCOURAGE your child to help you around the house part of the day, so that you can do something OTHER than play. LOL
wow. you are the queen of macro-- that's fabulous!
Is it any consolation that someone across the pond has read the same book every day for a month (over and over and over...)?
Maybe we should let them rock on the blogs, I think my posts would benefit from a toddler's perspective.
Jessamine wants to read Dora's Happy Birthday Mami every nap and bedtime. I tried to mix it up by sliding in some silly words MadLib style, and now she wants me to read it like that every time- with the exact same silly words.
Oh sure, he will always be a big help. They never out grow it, you won't even have to pay him to help when he gets older. We can dream, can't we?
It's sad really. They are the most helpful, when they are the least helpful.
lol I know exactly how you feel though since I gave her her own space she isn't as needy as before. She likes to sweep.
Is it just me or does it seem like the leaves just decided one day to all drop?
They are all phases....I remember reading a Little People flap book with a bazillion flaps, at least ten times a day. ...oh for about a year!
I hear ya! One thing that I could never do was to role play. I couldn't be Barbie of GI Joe or play house with my kids. Nope, just couldn't do it. Now I get to play pedicure and manicure. I'll take that anyday.
My son just raked our whole yard (and took out the trash) so sure he will want to help forever. :)
Of course, he only raked so my grandson could play in the pile and I know have a mountain of leaves in one spot in my yard. :)
Seriously--encourage him. My best friend's son LOVES TO VACUUM. And he's 7 now, so he actually does fairly well (I'm not very particular)
Now--when he decides he wants to vacuum--that's still an every now and then kind of thing ;)
Let him use the camera!!
It's a phase. One that lasts a long long time. However, the good news is that (a) he gets much better at the helping part, so that he actually becomes capable of doing real cleaning, putting away laundry, and so on; and (b) the books he wants you to read get infinitely more interesting, as do the projects.
In my experience, though, it's up to child #2 to need to be played with and watched less. Even though her brother is two years older, she is already happier than he is to play completely alone with the train table or something. He just got used to an audience, I think, as the eldest, and now he still wants one. On the other hand, he makes an excellent audience for her, and even "reads" to her, so there is some hope.
I've read the same Thomas book 80 kazillion times. Does that make you feel better? NO? Sorry... (for both of us).
His typing skills are pretty good...
ROTFL I'm dying! Let the boy rake and when he's done, send him over here to rake all my 2938309483 leaves. LOL
I'm totally at the beginning of this stage right now and I'm skeeeerd! I try to not give in and then I give in. I need help. Is there a support group for us? Please link me to it! lol
~melody~
Oh and thanks for that bloggity awesome comment you last posted. Your rock! ;-)
I know what you mean about being a giant toddler and I have been there times four.
It is funny how intense love and amazement can go hand in hand with clock watching and the tedious hours of kid centered activities. I really like your tots contribution to the blog though!
I have found at different ages and stages my kids helpfulness ebbs and flows and the good thing about four is I usually have at least one helpful child at any given time :)!!
That picture is exquisite.
HA! I'll fib and say, Of course its not a phase!!! He'll be helpful for the rest of his life!! Heeee.
Evie wants to be helpful too lately. She sits on my keyboard to let me know how much.
GREAT shot!
aaaawww.. you're gonna miss this!
trust me. you will.
and you will have to PAY him to do yard work someday.
enjoy this...enjoy him.
Seriously? There will come a day when you will miss this. Miss him being around. It will probably be awhile, but try to enjoy these times! Let the boy rake!
I am sure it is just a phase. I stopped following my mom around all the time...although maybe that was just because I moved out of state...
That shot is amazing! I love all the colors in it -- wow!
Sadly, just a phase...until they discover they can play on their own and you'll miss him and want to play...only to find he'll say something like..mommy go rake the leaves or clean or something while I play.HA! Sadly...they are beautiful, yet I wish we could freeze time to love them and hold them and listen to them breathe at night forever..or until they can drive! But introducing a bag of 5 or 6 books where he can pull from always works for me!
AW!!!! He sounds so cute!
I think your son and mine are growing at exactly the same pace. I have help all day long here too. The good part is that now, when he spills something, I can get him to clean it up....or at least half of it:)
Wow that shot is awesome!!
As for toddler, mine is attached to my hip all.day.long. All I hear when I walk away from her her mamamamamama. She even has two siblings to play with. It does get better as they get older though.
I wish I had some encouragement, but I am following your lead - mine is too young for me to tell just yet.
I would assume it's a phase though? :)
i had to laugh when i read this because i am dying here too with the repetition during storyyime! our current fav and oft repeated read is baa baa black sheep. ugh!
I love the helping phase of a child!! Beautiful shot..
My five year old still loves to rake. I'm hoping it lasts well into his teen years. :)
The raking? Totally a phase- sorry! I can't even get Claire (8) to pick up her towel off the floor after showering. sigh
I get so tired of playing hot wheels- dear God, I feel your pain!
Margaritas at my place?
Drink thirty?
Emma is 4 and she still wants us to play with her 24/7. I've been told this is how only children are. It doesn't make me want to have another, though.
i remember when my daughter was in that "helper" phase 24/7. It can be maddening.
Breathtaking photo!
nurture the phase and it just may stick around!
Oh I hate to rake...I'd say run with it for as long as you can!
It will end sometime, but K-Girl is 4 and still LOVES when she is able to help me out with my chores. But now she picks what is fun and what isn't. ;) Till it ends I say soak 'em for all of the work we can.
I'd say wanting to do everything you do is a phase, but you can keep your fingers crossed that he will always relish in the joys of raking. Then you can send him to my house. I'm all about fulfilling a kids chore dreams!
Fantastic! Teach him how to weed, hoe and plant as well and you can sit back and smell the roses!
look at that photo, holy crap.
Yes, it's absolutely a phase ~ don't fret, Mama! :)
Sure, it's a phase -- one that only lasts a few years. :)
Uh, no he will not want to help out much longer.
AND, one day you will miss these endless repitious readings. Honest.
BEAUTIFUL leaf! Only 399,998 to go? I can't wait.
Love what Hilary said! She is always so early here.
I don't know if it's a phase, but probably. The GOOD NEWS is that you are teaching him many things about how to do things and be responsible. Though I'm sure sometimes you want to crash into him like I crash into my dog when he's too much underfoot.
Guess what? At some point, you actually do get a little time alone and then you panic because he could be into anything. Also, do not introduce him to computers. Mine is obsessed with google images of monster trucks..no time to blog.
Yep, a phase. About the time he's actually able to HELP, he'll stop wanting to.
That is one fantastic picture! I swear you continue to amaze me with your skillz!
Someday you'll be like me, looking back nearly 40 years when your little one was so innocent and dear and frustrating and fantastic. Enjoy every precious moment God gives you with the child. God is loving him through you.
Amazing photo. And yes it is just a phase...I'll say savor every moments of that phase because you'll surely miss it when he outgrows it.
LOL...hilary (your first commenter) hit the nail on the head. Dammit.
The "helping" part is actually really sweet and kinda gratifying. Anytime I get a little short-fused with how much the "help" is setting me back, I try to pause and remember that my own Dad never had he patience to allow us boys to do anything with him. That really jolts things back into perspective.
However, our 2.5 yr old also wants nothing to do with entertaining himself and that is really driving me crazy. Most often, when I do send him trotting off to his room to play solo, he stands at the door and cries like a wounded water buffalo for all the world to hear just how tragic & horrible his life has suddenly become. The most cool toys in all the world are less than 12 inches away, but he'd rather be miserable. Now here's the real kicker - many times when I do accompany him to his room to play, he ends up totally ignoring me. So, he desperately wants me to be in there, but doesn't necessarily want to interact. Or, to the other extreme, when I'm in there playing some blocks or other quiet activity, he decides my new name is "Jungle Jim" and I should therefore be climbed upon, jumped upon, or otherwise physically abused accordingly. I'm a fairly sturdy guy, but still...
'Fraid so. Enjoy it whilst it lasts.
Brought back memories.
I left a little something for you at my place. :)
Just a phase ..... make the most of it as the get more tricky as the time goes by. Congratulations on POTD
cute - boys love their momma!!
pretty soon - he won't want you to read at all!!
Well you never know.....
I like the photo. We had a really short fall up here! There is snow on the ground already. AHHH!
I hear you, sister. Some days you feel basically like your children regard you less as a parent/authority figure, more like an overgrown plaything.
hi, cant seem to find a new photostory friday for tomorrow..am i looking in the right place? thanks
So cute, mamageek! Enjoy every moment I say!
Ha! That is the way of toddlers, I am afraid. I love how he even took over your blog. I think you have your hands full :)
In my experience, they love to help until they are actually capable of doing an awesome job. Then they lose all interest.
Sorry.
So you have a mini-shadow like I do, huh?
Actually, I have three.
I run from them...really fast.
But alas, they follow.
Mine want to help. But it almost always creates more work in the long run. And I hear in a few years they will NEVER want to help.
My nephew was in this stage when we visited last summer - just CLUNG to my SIL, every moment - otherwise screamed...poor little guy (and, poor SIL). He has now progressed to the hitting stage....
Is that a progression?