Each age comes with their own issues. I personally find the age where they want to help with everythin but don’t quite understand their limitations to be my current challenge (4 year old niece). It was interesting finding out that she could open the heavy glass door by herself and was tall enough now to open the fridge. My sister’s regret was when she carried out the mini potty into their living room asking if she could dump it in the toilet. She could carry it by herself, but not without spilling it over the sides everywhere.
Normally I find preschools to be fairly easy in a short time setting, as they are typically fairly good at wanting to follow the rules and eager to please. The opposite side to that is they tend to find their own ways to “help” if you don’t provide them with options. Things such as trying to give the cat a bath, trying to clean other things in water that shouldn’t be cleaned in water, etc.
I know that when I was a child, I would normally get in trouble for things I would do for curiousity rather than malice. Even a teenager’s brain doesn’t always have the experience or wisdom to catch on to an outcome that adult me normally can see. For instance, making more flames in a citronella candle does not help keep the mosquitoes away and instead just completely melts the candle. Also a torch is not just a stick set on fire at one end, but involves cloth and oil. That was how I got banned from playing with fire by my friends. Didn’t catch anything else on fire other than the candle and stick, so I was lucky that there was no harm done.
Or like how 14-year-old-me thought “electricity bills are stupid! Why do grownups even bother?? When I get a house I’m gonna replace all the lights with TORCH BRACKETS on the walls! I’m a GENIUS!!”
36-year-old me, however, realizes this would be not only an insurance and fire hazard nightmare, but there’d be nowhere for the smoke to go and the smell…
Just to add:
From what I’ve read, it’s best (despite the difficulties) to help them learn how to do these things properly rather than outright forbid them from helping, if it’s a practical option. In the long run, children who are encouraged to be helpful tend to become more cooperative and better connected with their families, apparently, as well as being more self-sufficient (you won’t always be there to do thing for them, even if you want to); by contrast, training a child to depend on others to do everything for them has some pretty obvious long-term downsides.
Of course, it can add a lot of work in the short term.
Each age comes with their own issues. I personally find the age where they want to help with everythin but don’t quite understand their limitations to be my current challenge (4 year old niece). It was interesting finding out that she could open the heavy glass door by herself and was tall enough now to open the fridge. My sister’s regret was when she carried out the mini potty into their living room asking if she could dump it in the toilet. She could carry it by herself, but not without spilling it over the sides everywhere.
Normally I find preschools to be fairly easy in a short time setting, as they are typically fairly good at wanting to follow the rules and eager to please. The opposite side to that is they tend to find their own ways to “help” if you don’t provide them with options. Things such as trying to give the cat a bath, trying to clean other things in water that shouldn’t be cleaned in water, etc.
I know that when I was a child, I would normally get in trouble for things I would do for curiousity rather than malice. Even a teenager’s brain doesn’t always have the experience or wisdom to catch on to an outcome that adult me normally can see. For instance, making more flames in a citronella candle does not help keep the mosquitoes away and instead just completely melts the candle. Also a torch is not just a stick set on fire at one end, but involves cloth and oil. That was how I got banned from playing with fire by my friends. Didn’t catch anything else on fire other than the candle and stick, so I was lucky that there was no harm done.
Or like how 14-year-old-me thought “electricity bills are stupid! Why do grownups even bother?? When I get a house I’m gonna replace all the lights with TORCH BRACKETS on the walls! I’m a GENIUS!!”
36-year-old me, however, realizes this would be not only an insurance and fire hazard nightmare, but there’d be nowhere for the smoke to go and the smell…
Just to add:
From what I’ve read, it’s best (despite the difficulties) to help them learn how to do these things properly rather than outright forbid them from helping, if it’s a practical option. In the long run, children who are encouraged to be helpful tend to become more cooperative and better connected with their families, apparently, as well as being more self-sufficient (you won’t always be there to do thing for them, even if you want to); by contrast, training a child to depend on others to do everything for them has some pretty obvious long-term downsides.
Of course, it can add a lot of work in the short term.