I consider myself a very Do-it-yourself mom. Every time my girl asks me if she can do something on her own, I tell her, “Yep, do it yourself!”
Our belief is that being independent is the ultimate goal. And as much as we are tempted to, we have to avoid helping her with something she can do on her own.
And because all her chores are child-led, there is dignity of labour and fewer refusals and arguments to do chores.

Age appropriate chores: 0-1

How can an infant be independent? It can’t because she is dependent on us for even her basic needs. But once she turned 6 months , we went the baby- led weaning way. To date, she eats on her own, with us. We get to enjoy our meal happily. But more importantly, she is very keenly attuned to her tummy, and is able to decide exactly how much quantities she needs. … Click to read the rest

On average, a toddler asks close to 300 questions a day. Compare it to an adult who asks about 20 questions a day. Why is it that we have lost the ability to think and ask? Is it because we know everything, or that we do not care to know? Thinking about was was what prompted me to choose this particular theme on child-led learning for this year’s Blogchatter challenge.

What are the questions toddlers ask?

At about 12-15 months, once basic cognition and communication sets in, the frequency of “What if this?” increases. This is a simple vocabulary building exercise. This is followed by who, where and when. And at about 30-36 months, the wonderful world of why begins. This is wonderful because unlike the previous stage, these are open ended questions, and higher level reasoning is required.… Click to read the rest

Growing up, the first meal I cooked was when I was about 12 years old. As I started adulting, I’ve realised cooking is a major life-skill. I promised myself that I wouldn’t ever say no if V wanted to help out in the kitchen as a child.
I could never cook when she was asleep, and I remember the early days when I would wear her in my sling and continue my chores. At about 9 months she gravitated towards the kitchen on her own. I think the shiny, steel vessels or different vegetables drew her.

At about 9 months she wanted “work” and set about sorting the onions from the garlic. By one year she was comfortably peeling the skin off onions and mashing potatoes, gleefully.
With Opos cooking, cooking together has just become very natural.

Why cooking?

There are many wonderful things a toddler learns while cooking. Listing some of them here.… Click to read the rest