It’s important for parents to allow their children to enjoy their childhood while teaching them valuable life skills at the same time. Introducing tasks like cleaning or budgeting early on can help children develop a positive attitude toward responsibilities, making them more likely to approach these tasks with enthusiasm as they grow older. Research even shows that this approach can increase their chances of future happiness and success.
Sophie Zee, a child development expert and mom, is sharing a video of her 10-month-old baby helping with household chores such as doing the laundry and loading the dishwasher. Her goal is to highlight how capable even young children can be when it comes to contributing to family tasks.
In the video, Zee includes a caption that reads, “POV: you're 10-months-old but your mom is trained in child development, so you already know about basic chores and associate them with playtime and fun, and you enjoy helping out and doing them.” Watching her baby’s little hands at work—splashing water in a strainer or pressing the washing machine buttons—demonstrates that he is engaged in these tasks in a playful, exploratory way. At one point, he even uses a fork to open the dishwasher soap dispenser, showing off his problem-solving skills.
In her video description, Zee encourages parents to let their babies and kids watch and assist with daily chores, even if it means tasks take longer or are messier. “It’s so important for their development, and they enjoy it!” she writes.
Many parents in the comments shared similar experiences, with one mom writing, “My 9-month-old loves watching/helping me clean, especially when I load/unload the dishwasher! I love making the daily tasks around the house more fun for the two of us.” Another parent said, “I did this with my 6 adult kids. They were helping from the time they were just a few weeks old.”
Other comments praised Zee for setting her child up for success. One commenter, an Early Childhood Development (ECD) teacher, wrote, “Best to train them from young 🥰 love it.”
In an interview with Newsweek, Zee explained that she filmed her son doing chores to showcase their natural desire to engage and feel included in the family. She pointed out that children learn by observing and imitating adults, making it a perfect opportunity to introduce them to responsibilities such as self-care and household tasks.