The past few days, Jacob has figured out some pretty neat things. He can now sit up on his own, pull himself up to a standing position, and get back down on the floor. Although this is awesome, this also means he can pretty much go anywhere in the room. This means there is a path of destruction in my living room at all times. Yes, I know this is only the beginning. And I'm assuming at some point I'll teach him to pick up after himself.
So my goal is to frantically clean the floor before Josh gets home. I'll let Jacob scatter his toys everywhere during the day and do a quick cleanup around 6pm. Luckily, so far I've been able to do a clean sweep each night before Josh shows up. I'm waiting for the one day that he comes home early and I am drastically unprepared. Or the one missing block that didn't make it back into the fire truck and is stuck in some odd place.
I'm very excited to teach Jacob to clean up after himself. I can't wait for him to crawl back behind odd places to retrieve things he put there hours ago. And then I can tell him to clean up minutes before daddy comes home while I try to put together some dinner. Yes, this is turning into a good plan. A plan that I'm sure will fail!
Do you have any tips for teaching clean-up? Or any funny stories to share???
Liz, you still have a while before he can actually clean up after himself, but when the time comes, I suggest labeling your shelves with pictures and names of the toys, so he can see where each one goes. Also, make clean-up time a game. Make him a "toy ranger" and give him a hat or badge or something else special to wear, put on a timer, and have him go around and fill up a laundry basket with toys and put them away before the timer rings. For now, you get to have all the fun, though! : )
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Thanks Elisha!!!!! Those are super ideas! I definitely want to label shelves! Now we just need our house!
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