Montessori magic

E has really been struggling in the evenings lately and honestly we’ve been just exasperated with her behavior. Knowing what it stems from (new baby, busy stressed parents and adjustment to being two) theoretically helps but doesn’t really fix things in the heart of the moments where there’s screaming and demanding from one child or another.

Today I finally got around to putting together some practical life inspired activities. The Montessori teacher in me cringed a little bit to make what were essentially “busy” trays rather then just involving her in the real tasks around the house but they’re what we need right now. I made a little scooping and open close work, a funnel pouring activity, and an eye dropper with some colored water and mini paint tray that I’m hoping can double as some color mixing for H.

I did make myself feel a little better by engaging her in cleaning up and putting away what had been in that space beforehand at least. And then I made a point to actually present the work and have her practice “waiting hands”. Mostly because she’s really struggling to do this while being in her kitchen tower as we prep food so I wanted a neutral time to give her a refresher on that skill.

But then in the evening I got really lucky to hit the jackpot of finding a truly practical and engaging activity for her. Our home has way too much carpet so the dog has a little rubber mat under his bowls and it had just gotten gross from use and was due for a cleaning.

Luckily I remembered this just as E was starting to get a bit squirrely and she was real excited to help when I suggested it. A couple minutes later she was set up with a scrub brush, squirt bottle and little bowl of water, cleaning away. Cue almost ten minutes of peace while she scrubbed and rinsed and got the thing legitimately clean before going to put it back. This girl is so focused and driven when she wants something and so “yeah no” when she isn’t. Seriously though, she’s just over two and collected all the requested supplies that she could reach, initiated filing the squeeze bottle when it was empty and just actually did the whole process without any real input.

Of course there was eventually a meltdown becauseshe wanted to clean the entire shower (her own idea, true story!) but there was this important thing canned dinner that needed to happen. But you know it’s engaging if E isn’t interested in stopping for food!