Just sent dd upstairs with a note

[DoingitOnTheRoofTopWithSanta]

Dh sent dd (23 months) down stairs for a bottle for ds. I sent her back with a note and a bottle. I feel like we have turned a corner

Am I being unreasonable to now to use dd as a messenger pigeon whenever suits me?

Train them well and you will reap the rewards.

On a good day 13 yo DD will make me a cup of tea or pour me a glass of wine and 8yo DS will locate and bring me my reading glasses when I've left them elsewhere.

Oh my goodness I remember the first time I asked dd to go downstairs and get me a banana. She must have been about 2 or just under. I realised then how many things she can be used for. Now I send her all over the house to fetch me things or to close the doors in the room. She loves being asked to find things and if she ever gets lazy I try to spice things up and tell her I'll count to 20 and she has to be back before then. She absolutely loves being timed.

'Tis very handy when you have a second child! Was faced with DD2's unexpected poo explosion the other day and DD1 (3) was very handy in getting me what I needed whilst I was trying to keep a squirming DD2 tethered.

And those keen little eyes are so good at spotting lost remotes, glasses (specs), glasses (wine). I view it is sight training. Very useful for children who grow up and get jobs where they need to see things.

Life one day your child may get a job where s/he is required to see things. You'll look back and thank me then and you'll find the remote now! it's a win-win

Terrible parents pah

I'm thinking of TTCing the next one seeing how useful they are

You are all amateurs: In the good old sixties, when smoking wasn't bad for you, DH's grand parents used to pay their youngest DS (aged 8) to go round the ashtrays the morning after his parents had thrown dinner parties, retrieve all the unsmoked tobacco from the stogies and re-roll it into into fags for them. They wre "naice" folks too, just skint.

DD is 18 months in a few days and loves carrying and fetching things! I can't remember the last time I unpacked a shopping bag as DD does it and hands me everything with a 'ergo' (here you go) she goes to MILs on a wednesday afternoon and comes home and grabs a cloth/babywipe/tea towel/ anything that resembles a cleaning cloth and wipes all the kitchen cupboard doors!

She has also picked up that when DP comes home from work he takes off his boots and puts his slippers on, so now when he comes home she runs to greet him and on the way to the front door she stops to grab his slippers for him

She is trained to do quite a lot really

I too am happy to join the terrible parents club. DS is so handy when I can't be arsed to get up and get the remote/my glasses/a biscuit. I also do the timing if his enthusiasm is waning.

Am a bit OTT safety conscious around drinks though as I have a huge skin graft scar from my own childhood.

DS (2.6) has really stepped up now that I'm pregnant. The other day, he went downstairs with dad in the morning as I was feeling ill. He got a box, put his apple juice in it and packed it in with tea towels then brought it upstairs "to help mummy feel better"

He has potential!

My 5yo can tidy her room, clean the living room of all hertoys, fetch me nappies and wipes when doing a nappy change for her little sister, get fruit for her and her sister and peel if necessary (orange, bananas), lay the table, put her dirty plates and cups in the dishwasher, retrieve most things me or dd2 need from upstairs.

She is very useful

NaiceDude, that's a horrible thing to have happened. I'm still inclined to go by sensibleness, [lack of] clumsiness and adequate height of the child in question, however. I remember being taught to make tea as part of some badge in Brownies, and a big part of it was how to do it safely and how very careful you had to be with hot water and other hot things.

Anyway, this whole thread is generally very encouraging. DS1 will be 21 months when DC2 arrives, and it looks like there are a lot of positives I hadn't been seeing. Lately I have been enjoying suddenly adopting a surprised expression during his mealtimes and saying, "Wait a minute! You've got your dinner, but Mummy hasn't got her cup of tea! Do you think Mummy should have a cup of tea?" So far, it's been enthusiastic agreement every time. But I think the next few months will be ripe with possibilities to be exploited allowed to blossom.

When I was pg dd became really good at taking my shoes off for me.

I, too, am a 'terrible mother'
The DC were taught to make gin and tonic from a very early age. DDs were a bit strong, but DS made them

They still say 'that's why you had children' when I ask for a gin and tonic

DS made them PERFECT

(have not been on the gin...children still in bed :)