Toddler Chores (18 months)

I hate to admit this, but sometimes at our house, we run out of things to do.  By this I mean, we run out of things the toddler can do, or is willing to do, or will allow me to do (I, of course, have a list of about twenty things that need to be done and it's always getting bigger).  Search the interwebs, and there are lots and lots of "chores for little hands" etc.  But they all start around the age of 2.  So what do you do before that?  My kid is only 1.5 -- with a little bit of effort, I've discovered that he can still help around the house.

Our favorites:
1. Putting dirty clothes into the hamper.  Please excuse me if this list seems to be mostly "put this thing in something else."  It is his favorite activity.
2. Putting clothes into the dryer.  Our dryer is a front loader with the door that opens down like an oven door, so if I put the wet clothes from the washer on the door, he can push them into the dryer.  Mostly.

3. Picking up toys and putting them in the toy box.  Sometimes, this devolves into "put three things in, take everything out."  But that's ok, too.  The point of chores sometimes is not to actually get anything done.
4. Picking up trash outside.  If most of the garbage on our street wasn't super yicky (most of it is old fast food wrappers, blech), I believe my son would cheerfully clean the whole block.  He also loves to do this at the park.  I am trying to be less squeamish about it.
5.  Putting leaves onto the compost pile.  This one is super fun, because it's outside and a little dirty (but safe dirt, not like someone's old oozy food wrappers, shudder).  I show him the pile of leaves and do a couple handfuls as an example, and then I sit down and hang out for fifteen minutes until he gets bored.
6. Wiping down surfaces with a rag.  This is purely experimental right now -- I filled an old windex bottle with water and let him practice spraying things.  He mostly sprayed his mouth, which filled him with delight.  And then he wasn't very interested in wiping anything up.  But, we're going to keep trying.  If you want to try this, you can start with a damp diaper wipe and see what happens.  I'm planning to get those little fingers dusting some hard-to-reach crevices one of these days.
7. Turning on and off the lights.  Maybe your kid is content to walk around on his own two feet all the time; mine still has moments when he wants mommy to carry him.  And, sometimes wrangling him in my arms is the only way I get his diaper changed (sad but true).  So, when he is in my arms, I always ask if he will turn on the lights in whatever room we enter and turn them off when we leave.  He loves it.

As I said above, the point of chores with very little kids isn't that they are actually helping you.  If they do get anything done, the active supervision and constant re-stating of the goal pretty much wipes out any actual progress.  But my son really does love to help -- he beams with pride when he can get his dirty socks into the hamper and he truly believes it is his job to put the clothes in the dryer.  It is great fun to see him participate in how we run our house.

Metro Rail Ride Downtown -- a $2 Date with your kid

Looking at Austin's MetroRail commuter train, you could be forgiven for thinking it is lame.  I mean, it only goes from a parking lot in the middle of suburbia to downtown; there is little, if anything, within walking distance of the stops until you hit the end of the line; and it doesn't even operate on the weekends, when you might actually want to go downtown.  It seems strictly created for the few people who live in the suburbs and need a ride to their 9 to 5 jobs.  Not me and my kid, surely.

But! It is secretly an awesome outing.  It is cheap -- $1 each way and kids under 6 ride for free.  A lot of things that are free for babies have a cut off age that is a lot younger than 6, so this is a bargain.  We make a habit of parking at the Crestview station.  It is about a twenty minute train ride to the downtown station, which isn't too long for the little ones.  There is plenty of free parking and the area is green, sunny, and delightfully deserted in the middle of the day.  When your kid runs off screaming because he thinks he sees a bus around the corner on Lamar, you can dump whatever you're carrying and dash after him him. Or maybe my kid is the only one who does this.  He really loves buses.

For those who are similarly inclined, there are many buses to watch from the windows of the train.  They gather at the MLK and Plaza Saltillo stations to whisk more businessy-minded people off to their Important Things. My kid was very excited to see them, all in a row, like he was visiting bus heaven.  That reminds me, I need to do another post on Bus Heaven; I know where it is if anyone has been wondering.  Downtown, of course, is loaded with buses -- and activity of every kind.  Standing on the corner of Cesar Chavez and Trinity is probably thrilling enough for some kids (and completely free).

If you need a little more than just watching traffic to satisfy you, we've discovered a few other things that are within a pretty close walk.  Strolling down Trinity past Cesar Chavez takes you to the Lady Bird Lake hike and bike trail.  The Austin Rowing Club is not far to the left, and if you visit one of the docks nearby, you can probably see people rowing and crew teams practicing.  And, for a while at least, you can still see a cow statue hidden under the Congress Avenue bridge.  The Four Seasons is right there as well, and on the hillside looking out over the lake they have chairs, rocks to climb on, and hammocks.  If you hang out there, one of the sweet waiters from the cafe might come out and ask you if you want breakfast.  You could do worse than buying a coffee to go, because he will probably bring it to you on a fancy tray loaded with hotel coffee luxuries.  And then you can sip it from a hammock.  There are worse ways to spend a morning.

Walking over to Congress and 2nd, there are a few food trucks in an empty lot.  The coffee truck is open for breakfast and the others, Snap Pod and a kebab truck, are open for lunch.  If you have a kid who runs into traffic, it's not the calmest place to go for a snack, but hey, maybe you have a kid who likes to sit on your lap.  And if you do, and someday you notice me staring at you from the curb with the vise-like grip on my child, um, I'm just a little jealous.

A few more blocks away is the Austin Children's Museum.  They have story time at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm.  Plus, of course, plenty of things to climb on, play with, and explore.  I keep hearing complaints about this museum, because apparently other towns have better ones.  But there is have a book corner and an aquarium and this thing that you can put golf balls in and watch them roll down a slide.  We don't really need much more than that these days.

If you keep going, you can reach City Hall.  If you go now, you can visit the Occupy Austin protest -- it's mostly kid friendly.  I heard some swear words and shouting, but didn't see anything terrible when I took my kid a few weeks back.  When the protesters are gone, there are often other public events, like free music, on the plaza outside.

Yes, buying coffee or lunch or a museum entry makes the day a little more expensive, but you really can have lots of fun just walking around for free.  If you wind up missing the train and can't wait an hour for the next one (yes, it really takes an hour for the next one), you can simply catch the #1 bus all the way back to the Crestview station.

If you go, you'll need:

• snacks and water for the kiddos -- it's hard to find a place to buy cheerios by the convention center.
• a stroller or sling or baby-carrying-device
• $2 -- the machines even take credit cards and bus passes, so maybe you don't even need that
• good walking shoes for mom/dad

More info:

http://www.capmetro.org/

Photos courtesy Lucky Locavore