One of the things I struggle with is knowing how much is reasonable to expect of Ariel. In our current society, children are usually babied; they are capable of doing far more than is expected of them. On the other hand, I don’t want to expect too much and frustrate my daughter. For the sake of anyone else in the same boat, I thought I would start putting together a list, year-by-year, of what I have found that Ariel is able to do.

By the time she turned three, Ariel was:

• helping fold laundry (mostly socks/underwear/dishcloths)
• putting her own clothes away (except for hanging clothes, which she can’t reach)
• setting the table (with non-breakable dishes!)
• helping put laundry into the dryer (I put it on the dryer door and she tosses it in.)
• making her own bed
• putting her toys away
• putting on her own (velcro-closure) shoes
• helping empty the dishwasher and putting away the flatware
• beginning to brush her own teeth (Mama “checks” them.)
• learning to put her shirts on and take them off (but this is still very much a learning experience)