![]() If tidiness is necessary for mom’s mental health, that alone is a very good reason. Studies show that too much clutter causes stress and anxiety. With older children, make sure your kids understand why orderliness is important. Bins and baskets are the easiest way for little ones to organize their toys. Have bins where they can toss the books in. You want you toddlers to put their books away at the end of the day? Don’t expect them to line the books up on a shelf. It helps to structure your home environment so that it’s easy for toddlers to put things where they belong. You will have many other more important battles to pick with your toddler, such as brushing teeth, bedtime, and eating veggies. If you make a big deal over it, you might actually be giving negative reinforcement for not putting his shoes away or whatever it is you want him to do. I’d just encourage him to do whatever tidying you want him to do, but if he resists, shrug your shoulders and move on. You’ll get more co-operation if you only work on one tidiness habit at a time.īut what if your terrible-two doesn’t want to put his shoes in the closet or tidy up his toys? At this age, I wouldn’t battle it. A habit is a habit when your toddler is doing it automatically, without being reminded. Make sure one habit is firmly in place before introducing a new one. put your dirty laundry in a laundry basket.pick up your toys and put them in a bin before dinner.hang up your coat on a hook or put it in a basket when you come in.Some appropriate habits for 2 and 3 year olds are: This way you don’t overwhelm your toddler with too many instructions throughout the day. Only work on one tidiness habit at a time. Oodles of praise ( Woo hoo! You put your shoes in the closet! - accompanied by high fives, fist bumps, and floss dance).Consistency ( I do this every time I come in), and.Routine (as soon as I come in the house, I put my shoes away),.Role play (look at how I put my shoes in the closet),.To teach toddlers habits of tidiness, use the following steps: For example, when Junior turned two, he learned to put his shoes in the closet. Keep in mind that orderliness requires some logic, because being tidy means putting things in their logical place. Like learning a language, tidiness is much easier to learn while very young. So it’s something we work on throughout the year, but especially during the summer. For the sake of everyone’s sanity, I have learned to put on my blinders and ignore scattered toys, especially the path of destruction left by Hurricane Junior, (a.k.a. Instead, for better or worse, I’m kind of a neat freak. I wish I were one of those people who are oblivious to clutter, socks on the floor, and toys randomly scattered throughout the house. When new chores become habitual in the summer, the coming school year goes more smoothly… and it helps a lot!Īnother thing I work on during the summer is teaching my kids to be orderly. One thing I always do in the summers is establish a new routine for chores. How’s your summer going? I hope you have fun plans lined up and some time to enjoy a slower pace of life.
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