Helping Hand

There’s no doubt that the average toddler is curious.

Heck, Finley has been curious from the beginning. But, recently I’ve noticed that she’s not satisfied in just wondering how things work or what things do. She wants to make it all happen.She doesn’t want to just push the buttons on the remote just to push the button on the remote. Now she knows that if she hits enough buttons, Barney will show up. And it’s not just the remote. It’s anything that makes her think she’s grown up.

When the vacuum comes out, she wants to make it go. She knows where the broom is and wants to sweep the deck. This weekend, she was all about mopping the floor. And she loves to wipe the coffee table. Of course, her expertise at these cleaning skills has room for improvement.

And there are other things she’s learning to do or wants to do by herself… with absolutely NO HELP from us. She can slide on shoes and socks (somewhat) and get a coat on, but if she gets stuck, she gets frustrated fairly quickly. It takes a little convincing from us, but after a while she gives in and lets us help with the Velcro or zipper.

Then there are the other ways she wants to help out. There’s “helping” momma bake and decorate cupcakes. That’s when she hasn’t eaten most of the frosting.

But I guess it’s all about the effort. I like the fact that even though it’s really curiosity and play that are motivating her, she thinks she’s helping.

The bottom line is that she is not afraid to figure out how things work. She wants to learn and get her hands on whatever it is that has sparked her curiosity. It’s a first step to even more learning. Now, the trick will be to get her to sweep, mop, and clean ten years from now.