So, Z-man has several tasks around the house that he gets to help with. I've explained that I need his help doing these things and he seems pretty eager to do them. Z loads his laundry into the washing machine using a tall IKEA stool. He loves looking in as the water fills and putting his clothes in. This came about after Z wanted to wear the same soccer jersey with a star on it every day. I started asking him to help me wash it. Now, he asks has "can we wash this tonight?" if he wants to wear something again the next day.
Now that I've relinquished all my control over his outfits, I leave his clothes on his bed and he sorts them into drawers of unfolded clothes (socks, boxers, shirts, shorts).
When I am ready to start the dishwasher, Z-man puts the soap in the door and closes it up, pressing the button twice to turn it on.
When I am sweeping and organizing, he often gets his little dustpan to help me sweep up the piles. (Piles that often seem much more difficult to wrangle when my little helper is nearby.)
I give him little tasks as we go through our days looking for certain things at the grocery store, putting his trash in the trash can, pulling the sheets up on the bed. These tasks are much quicker when I just do them myself, but like most things in my life, they seem much more meaningful when we do them together.
