It's something I've been VERY aware of. Coming from a slightly different angle - DH grew up with a chronically ill mother so had to do a lot around the house to help. Sam is now in the same boat - growing up with a chronically ill mother and I know that he'll have to do a lot as he gets older to help out. I simply CAN'T do as much for my child as some parents do for theirs.

Sam already loves to help unload the dishwasher. I give him the plastic stuff... if I open the cupboards for him it mostly gets put away. He's also taken to putting his own cups in the sink - completely of his own accord. He also likes to help me hang up the washing - he'll hand me the pegs. If I'm bringing it in, he'll pick up any pegs I drop and make sure they go in the bucket. Of course, he does all of this with the attention span of the 19 month old he is - it's not all that uncommon to find him wandering off through the backyard with the peg bucket or that he's taken the plastic measuring cups to the lounge room to play with them.

For me... every time I tried to cook something growing up my mother would come in and take over. It's taken me a long, long time to become comfortable and confident in my own kitchen. I don't want my kids to be like that!

BW