--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If we allow our one-and-a-half year old…" description: "\"If we allow our one-and-a-half year old to \"help\" us fold laundry he will learn something about buttons, zippers, snaps, where things go, the physical ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fc/polly-berrien-berends-22615_bigs_if-we-allow-our-one-and-a-half-year-old_2671430.jpg" --- # If we allow our one-and-a-half year old to "help" us fold… ![“If we allow our one-and-a-half year old to "help" us fold laundry he will learn something about buttons, zippers, snaps, where things go, the physical properties of cloth, what happens when you drop it, how easy or hard it is to carry compared with everything else he has ever carried, what clean…” quote by Polly Berrien Berends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fc/polly-berrien-berends-22615_bigs_if-we-allow-our-one-and-a-half-year-old_2671430.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fc/polly-berrien-berends-22615_bigs_if-we-allow-our-one-and-a-half-year-old_2671430.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fc/polly-berrien-berends-22615_bigs_if-we-allow-our-one-and-a-half-year-old_2671430.jpg) > “If we allow our one-and-a-half year old to "help" us fold laundry he will learn something about buttons, zippers, snaps, where things go, the physical properties of cloth, what happens when you drop it, how easy or hard it is to carry compared with everything else he has ever carried, what clean clothes smell like, how a big towel can turn into a small bundle, how the small bundle you just folded can turn into a big towel again, plus any songs we care to sing or stories or related or unrelated facts we care to pass on.” [Polly Berrien Berends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/polly-berrien-berends/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Providing toddlers with hands‑on chores teaches practical skills, sensory awareness, and language through everyday tasks. **In simple terms:** Kids learn basics by doing chores. Key Takeaway Let kids help with simple tasks. Themes learning parenting development Mood engaging educational Type instructional parenting When to use this quote - folding laundry - teaching about textures - singing while cleaning - storytelling during chores Key Concepts sensorimotor skills language acquisition responsibility Questions to Reflect On - How can chores be adapted for safety? - What benefits do songs add to learning? A Different Perspective Children may become frustrated if tasks are too complex or safety isn’t ensured. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/care/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Clean clothes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clean-clothes/) [Clothes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clothes/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Property](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/property/) [Smell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Zippers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zippers/) ## Related quotes > [Believing that anxious thoughts and feelings can restore order to your life is like using a chain-saw to fold your laundry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-finley/believing-that-anxious-thoughts-and-feelings-can-restore-order-to/) [Guy Finley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-finley/) > [“Adam snorted as he pulled on a faded green t-shirt that said "I Heart Coyotes." 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He shaved.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robyn-carr/paul-went-to-his-room-gathered-clean-clothes-and-headed-down-the-hall/) [Robyn Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robyn-carr/) > [“I felt miserable. When Keats felt miserable he always put on a clean shirt. But he was a poet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/i-felt-miserable-when-keats-felt-miserable-he-always-put-on-a-clean/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [Behind my carefully buttoned collar is my nakedness, the struggle to find clean clothes, food, meaning, and money. Behind sex is rage, behind anger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/behind-my-carefully-buttoned-collar-is-my-nakedness-the-struggle-to/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [“You wake up in the morning, then go for a jog, pump up the dumb-bell, and take a shower! 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Do you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasmine/how-dare-us-teenagers-adults-and-whoever-else-think-we-have-it-so/) [Jasmine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasmine/) > [“Behind the story I tell is the one I don't. Behind the story you hear is the one I wish I could make you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/behind-the-story-i-tell-is-the-one-i-don-t-behind-the-story-you-hear/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) ## More by Polly Berrien Berends > [Especially with our first child, we tend to take too much responsibility--both credit and blame--for everything. The more we wantto be good parents, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/polly-berrien-berends/especially-with-our-first-child-we-tend-to-take-too-much/) [Polly Berrien Berends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/polly-berrien-berends/) > [The trouble with most problem-solving books for parents is that they start with the idea that the child has a problem. 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We do not have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/polly-berrien-berends/we-do-not-have-to-get-our-children-to-learn-only-to-allow-and/) [Polly Berrien Berends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/polly-berrien-berends/) > [The child does not begin to fall until she becomes seriously interested in walking, until she actually begins walking. 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Now the hardest part about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-alexis/the-biggest-change-for-me-as-a-mom-was-realizing-i-needed-to-put/) [Kim Alexis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-alexis/) > [I'm a big fan of all the Boston guys that are acting - Matt Damon , Ben Affleck, Mark Wahlberg - they made a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-wormald/i-m-a-big-fan-of-all-the-boston-guys-that-are-acting-matt-damon-ben/) [Kenny Wormald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-wormald/) > [The only regret I have in my career, is my managers wanted a big payday, and I wanted four or five more fights before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-cooney/the-only-regret-i-have-in-my-career-is-my-managers-wanted-a-big/) [Gerry Cooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-cooney/) > [It goes to show you how we in the press so often miss the big stories that are right under our noses. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-goes-to-show-you-how-we-in-the-press-so-often-miss-the-big-stories/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [Okay, so I'll admit I'm curious. Big deal. We both know what that leads to. Dead cat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-elizabeth-phillips/okay-so-i-ll-admit-i-m-curious-big-deal-we-both-know-what-that-leads/) [Susan Elizabeth Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-elizabeth-phillips/) > [I don't want this to be a distraction. This has been distracting enough. I'm not going to rehash this going forward. I'm sure other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jayson-werth/i-don-t-want-this-to-be-a-distraction-this-has-been-distracting/) [Jayson Werth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jayson-werth/) > [I didn't get how big it was until I went home, turned on the television and saw it on all the news, and later…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/i-didn-t-get-how-big-it-was-until-i-went-home-turned-on-the/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [It’s a small thing to help one animal, but to that one animal it’s a big thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-baur/it-s-a-small-thing-to-help-one-animal-but-to-that-one-animal-it-s-a/) [Gene Baur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-baur/) > [Since I was a little child, my nose - I think it's too big.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celine-dion/since-i-was-a-little-child-my-nose-i-think-it-s-too-big/) [Celine Dion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celine-dion/) > [People forget that there is a big difference between coercion and persuasion. The idea that evangelism is coercive is nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/people-forget-that-there-is-a-big-difference-between-coercion-and/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) > [I turn a lot of stuff down - big, big movies, the kind I wouldn't want to go to the cinema to see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-fox/i-turn-a-lot-of-stuff-down-big-big-movies-the-kind-i-wouldn-t-want-to/) [Matthew Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-fox/) > [I got in trouble my whole life for having a big mouth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-tyler/i-got-in-trouble-my-whole-life-for-having-a-big-mouth/) [Steven Tyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-tyler/) Browse all 15,539 Bigs quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If we allow our one-and-a-half year old to \"help\" us fold laundry he will learn something about buttons, zippers, snaps, where things go, the physical properties of cloth, what happens when you drop it, how easy or hard it is to carry compared with everything else he has ever carried, what clean clothes smell like, how a big towel can turn into a small bundle, how the small bundle you just folded can turn into a big towel again, plus any songs we care to sing or stories or related or unrelated facts we care to pass on.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Polly Berrien Berends" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/polly-berrien-berends/if-we-allow-our-one-and-a-half-year-old-to-help-us-fold-laundry-he/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bigs" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/polly-berrien-berends/if-we-allow-our-one-and-a-half-year-old-to-help-us-fold-laundry-he/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fc/polly-berrien-berends-22615_bigs_if-we-allow-our-one-and-a-half-year-old_2671430.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fc/polly-berrien-berends-22615_bigs_if-we-allow-our-one-and-a-half-year-old_2671430.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fc/polly-berrien-berends-22615_bigs_if-we-allow-our-one-and-a-half-year-old_2671430.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If we allow our one-and-a-half year old to \"help\" us fold laundry he will learn something about buttons…” — Polly Berrien Berends", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Polly Berrien Berends", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/polly-berrien-berends/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If we allow our one-and-a-half year...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/polly-berrien-berends/if-we-allow-our-one-and-a-half-year-old-to-help-us-fold-laundry-he/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/polly-berrien-berends/if-we-allow-our-one-and-a-half-year-old-to-help-us-fold-laundry-he/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```