It used to be simple to get breakfast ready in the morning. JDaniel would wait at the kitchen table for me to bring over his cereal bowl and milk cup. I would quickly pour everything into its correct serving piece and place it on the table.
At three he decided he could “help” me get breakfast ready. He started to carry his stepstool over to the counter just below his breakfast bowl and wait for me to bring over the cereal box.
Pouring the cereal into the bowl was a job he decided that he wanted to do himself. He has usually been able to do a good job at this. There were always a few pieces that fell to the floor, but not many. He didn’t overfill his bowl which was a miracle.
He would then hop down from his stool and rush for the refrigerator to get the milk jug. If it was heavy, he would let me carry it over for him. If it was light, he felt he could carry it.
Then the scariest part of cereal preparation occurred. He wanted to pour the milk into the bowl himself. He has a terrible sense of pouring liquids. I would hold part of the jug handle, but. the milk still seemed to slosh out of the bowl and cascade down the cabinets and or his pajamas.
Thankfully he has recently conceded that he could use my help with the milk pouring. My body can cease to tighten up and relax now that I can pour the milk.
The most precarious part of the cereal preparation happened when he tried to step off the stepstool carrying the bowl. It was kind of like watching a tightrope walker step out onto the high wire. I watched him carefully try to hold the bowl and step down at the same time. The milk would lick at the sides of the bowl most days without spilling to the floor. There were times that he stepped down too quickly and everything would flow out of the bowl and onto the floor. This truly frustrated him and me. It might mean we would have to begin the process again.
Once the bowl had made it onto the table, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief .
The bowl has been know to fall of the table when he tries to get out the final spoonful of milk, but beyond that it seems to remain in its spot on the table until he tries to drink the milk out of the bowl.
What activities do your children want to do by themselves?
This post is a part of the Displaying Independence celebration that begins Monday here and on the following blogs.
On July 4th the moms of Mom Loop would love for you to link up posts on your children displaying their independence. Your post could be all words or pictures or a mixture of both.
You can post your link on any of the blogs listed below. We would love for you to display this button or link to any of our blogs on your post.
Sigh, Dora has also been wanting to pour everything herself lately. I’ve been thinking that I need to get out some of the small Montessori jugs and see if she’ll be willing for me to fill those and her pour from them. Hopefully it would be less of a mess. Of course, if she insists on filling the jugs for me, the point is lost….
I still make breakfast without any help from little people 😉
I’ll have a post up tomorrow.
So cute. I always have to tell myself to slow down and let them help.
At this point, I’d be thrilled if my son would hold his own sippy cup. How lame is that?
Oh goodness I could have written that! *lol*
It is the same here.
Right now they want independence in brushing their teeth. I allow them to do so in the mornings by themselves and I do it at night to get all the gunk 🙂
Happy weekend.
So so excited to read everyones posts! And to participate in this sweet tribute to our kids! Love it! Thanks to JDaniel4smom for thinking up such a fun idea:)
Whewwww…I remember those days! Now my son (12) really wants to start cooking which involves chopping with sharp knives. He is super careful but my heart stops beating when he does it!
Yep I know that, my little tot always wants to do everything himself. He grabs things out of the fridge and eats them, peels the banana he doesn’t like so he never finishes it but he puts the peels in the trash. LOL. And of course he wants to pour the milk, brush his teeth, shampoo his hair, puts on his shoes … Just the things I like him to do, like dressing himself he doesn’t even think about. Sigh.
I know how you feel! Have you tried to compromise by placing a little milk in a small container? It might be a good step you can take for when he wants to pour the milk again. Montessori catalogs are a great place to find little pitchers. You could also have him sit down first, and then pour cereal and milk into his bowl. No movement needed then.
UGH
Broxton thinks that he needs to always bring the milk..
no matter how full the jug is…
if it is a new one, he simply lugs it out while saying…
“ToOOOOOooooooOOOO Heavy!”