Finding “Montessori moments” as a working mom

A couple of weeks back I checked out a book called The Montessori Toddler from my local library.

It’s an amazing book and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to add more aspects of Montessori learning/lifestyle to their home.

With that being said, there were some things in the book that felt a bit overwhelming to me, a working mom.

The reality is, if you work a full-time job, you just don’t have as many hours in the day with your child as a parent that is a full-time caregiver or even works from home.

This realization got me thinking about ways I can fit “Montessori moments” into my time with my child, to get all (well, most) of those great experiences with less of the fuss.

Here are some ways I’ve been putting this into practice so far:

Teaching my toddler how to pour into a cup

The other night, Jameson only wanted the peas on his dinner plate…and then some “to-go” peas afterwards. He also felt like rummaging through his cups and plates cabinet.

Cute an “aha” moment for a teaching opportunity.

I put some extra cups on the ground and sat with him. Then modeled how to pour the peas from one cup to another, using two hands.

I went as slow as I could so that he could see the steps I was taking. I also made sure to not talk while doing my demonstration, because apparently talking while demonstrating makes toddlers confused about whether they should be watching you or listening to you.

I don’t know about all that, but I kept my mouth shut anyways. Well, at least most of the time. I mean, it’s weird to be that quiet for so long, right?

But anyway, Jameson had a lot of fun watching me pour his peas in different cups. He tried pouring them himself and I have to to say, his skills have definitely improved from the other week when we tried this with water.

Letting my toddler choose his outfit in the morning

Jameson’s room isn’t set up for a tiny Montessori style wardrobe to be set up, so I’ve improvised by making the top shelves of his toy rack into clothing choice baskets.

This works for us because a. It doesn’t take up any additional space in his already small room and b. I now have the shelving space to use for this since I’ve started rotating his toys to play with and keeping the rest stored in his closet.

Okay, so I will admit that I have been so-so about remembering how to do this.

This is relatively new for us and there have been a few mornings this week that I’ve scrambled for an outfit for him, completely forgetting that I have two preselected ones for him to choose right across the room.

BUT the mornings I have remembered this have been mostly successful thus far.

Two of the times he picked an outfit, he seemed really excited about it. The third time, he pushed both of the choices away from him and did not want to be bothered.

I’ll chalk that time up to him watching Sesame Street when I asked him.

Pro-tip: when attempting Montessori independence fostering activities and rituals: make sure frowned upon screen time tv characters have not hijacked your child’s attention.

All jokes aside, the point is that Montessori doesn’t have to be elaborate or time consuming. You can pick and choose what works for your family and toss the rest.

Either way, you’re doing a great job. Now excuse me while I go sweep up some random peas I just found under the dishwasher. xx