Grocery shopping. Elliot is building independence. He asks me what he can fetch in the supermarket without me. I tell him eggs and that we should meet where the old blood pressure machine used to be.
Success! He did it once before when I asked him to help.
He is very proud of his independence. Now he always asks what he can get for me when we shop.
But he can’t read well yet. Eggs are ok because he gets the right kind. I tried milk, and he brought whole non-organic milk. I tried salmon, and he brought farm-raised instead of wild.
He asks and asks how he can help. I rack my brains and can only think of eggs and cheese (he knows what the cheddar looks like, and they don’t sell organic cheddar anyway).
Maybe I’ll just accept the wrong foods, like peppers and apples that aren’t organic. He genuinely loves to help and that’s more important than getting it perfect. It makes me feel good to see him so pleased.
I recall how I stopped making the bed. Parenting experts say to make chores into games. Making the bed in the morning became a game, with Elliot hiding under the blankets. It was fun at first. But it also turned a 2-minute task into a 5-minute or 7-minute task. Every day. So I stopped making the bed…
Maybe now he’s old enough to make it with me without it being hide-and-seek every single time. I’ll find out!
Helping to make the latkes from scratch. He LOVES to help! I’m very lucky.
