Preschool sounds like fun. 2 1/2 hours of singing, dancing, playing, and eating. This is his idea of heaven.

Only a few ‘problems’ have arisen:

1. Even though he is fast approaching 3, he is still my baby.  As he gets older he is getting nearer to leaving home. Am I jumping the gun? Maybe, but as he gets older he needs me less, or that’s how it feels.
2. I have had to buy an ironing board and iron. The fact that I don’t own one does not make me a bad person or a bad mother – just someone who doesn’t like ironing! But name tags are essential on all clothes apparently. And name tags have to be ironed on. Well, the ones I bought do anyway – I like sewing even less than ironing!
3. ‘Baby’ has become instantly allergic to his new uniform. He won’t even contemplate trying his new white polo shirts on. They are the wrong colour. They are not red.
4. I have worked out that walking to preschool and back to drop him off, then the same again to pick him up will leave me 1 hour FREE to do what I please. Therefore I am not gaining much from the deal. Driving there just seems wrong somehow. Yet I wonder how long that feeling will last.

Little does he know that from next week, life as he knows it will change forever. From next week he will go to school every day (apart from holidays of course) til he is able to drive, vote, get married, or heavens forbid join the army.

I really hope he settles in well, and loves going to ’school’.

I think I will need more comforting then he does.

Firstly wash, peel and chop the fruit and veg you are using, make sure you remove any pips and stones. 3 types is about the right number to start with.

Choose any, but these are great to start with:

Fruit, can be fresh or tinned

• Banana
• Strawberry
• Apple
• Pear
• Peach
• Carrot
• Red green or yellow pepper
• Mushroom
• Tomato
• Cucumber

Get your toddler to cover their eyes, and feed them a small piece of fruit or veg, ask them to tell you what it is. Congratulate them if they are right. If they get it wrong, ask them questions about it to help them and guess again. Is it sweet, crunchy, sticky, soft, etc.

You can join in the game too, by swapping round and you cover your eyes and get your toddler to feed you bits of fruit and veg. You should be good at guessing the right one, but you can say, oh it’s sweet and crunchy, is it an apple?

This games makes tasting new food fun, and helps with improving their vocabulary – it can get messy though!

You can either buy ‘toy’ household cleaning items, or what seems to be much more fun, is helping Mummy by using hers. Kids love to copy and help, all the more when they are praised for their help.

I have a dustpan and brush that just my toddler uses, this way I know it is clean, and he just loves brushing up crumbs when he’s eaten a biscuit, or thrown cereal all over the floor. This ‘game’ also helps him understand that you have to clean up if you’ve made a mess.

Of course your little helper will probably be more of a hindrance than a help, but it is fun to a toddler and does help them learn about chores around the house that have to be done,

Other chores that work well with kids ‘helping’:

• Sweeping up leaves outside. The ‘big brush’ seems too big for my ‘helper’ but he manages quite well, and insists on brushing up, even when there is nothing to sweep.
• Filling and emptying the washing machine. Folding and putting away clothes follows on from this, and can include pairing up socks, sorting clothes into a pile for each member of the family.
• Washing up. My son loves washing up his dishes after meals. OK, so I let him do this more in the summer – outside. Plastic crockery is a must as it means no breakages!
• Window cleaning. A soft cloth with no cleaner on is perfect for your little one to help keep the windows clean. With lots of praise, they will be really pleased that they have been such a big help. Do make sure the window is secure, firmly locked shut, and at ground level – shut doors are great.

• Washing the car. A favourite with my son. He just loves the bubbles, the water, ‘being grown up’ an d getting very very wet!

Never leave your child unattended while they are ‘helping’ you with chores.
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