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The Accessible Home
Comfort for the Whole Family By Sue Marquette Poremba
Cultivating Comfort and IndependenceIf a home is set up to be comfortable for every member of the home, tools are available for every member of the family to help out with chores as well. Laura Dellutri, author of Speed Cleaning 101 (Meredith Books, 2005), recommends having cleaning tools for even the youngest members of the family. "Give them a plastic caddy of their own, and fill it with a spray bottle of water, a microfiber cloth, a little duster and a whisk broom and mini dust pan," she says. "This will make kids feel important and more willing to care for their room."
That is the experience of Laura Alter of Austin, Texas. She follows the Montessori method, which encourages children to be independent. She has set up her home to allow her children, ages 4 years, 3 years and 19 months, to foster self-reliance.
"It is very, very important to us that our children feel empowered, independent and 'big' as they would say," says Alter. "We have found that they really love having responsibilities around the house. It gives them a sense of pride to complete them and they look forward to the praise and sense of accomplishment."
My children also felt that sense of pride and independence that having an accessible home brings. And as the kids grew, the kitchen arrangement grew with them. Now I'm the shortest person living in the house, so I've rearranged the kitchen so the things I use the most are on the lower shelves proving that creating a comfortable home for everyone is an ongoing project.