My 16-month-old daughter cleans up, puts things away, and makes things even. Anyone encounter this?

Question

Just wondering if this is common or unique...and if anyone has encountered it.

Answer 1

nope can barely get my honey to pick up after herself and she is two the only thing i can think of is she see you cleaning and wants to be like you though i have never seen it that eairly i think she might be too young to have and OCD or maybe not but personally i would much rather have a kiid with a cleaning OCD than that thing she has where mine ignores me half the day

Answer 2

its pretty common cause she probably see's you doing it all the time.My friends daughter did the same thing when his girlfriend would clean up,but she was scared of the vaccum

Answer 3

DONT stop her.i used to wash dishes and tidy everything when i was pretty young.

mam stopped me, now i do nothing, i leave everything to the maids.(im 21)

encourage her, tell her to keep doing it, show her its the right thing to do.

may god bless her.

Answer 4

Yes- our oldest child was the same way, by around 14 months of age. She still to this day (she's 10 now!) is my best cleaner and loves organizing the closets, bookshelves, etc... Now my other 2, thats another story- ha ha!!!

Answer 5

Oooh! Can I have her?! My boys are PIGS! I have to constantly tell them to pick up after themselves.

Answer 6

Wow, no sorry, I haven't encountered that but I'd be willing to trade =)  haha.  I am like her, very particular about things being neat and also "even and straight (parallel)"  and my son is the opposite, a 2yr. old tornado!! I'd say just be happy and go with it, you are very lucky!!

Answer 7

Actually, my 2 1/2 year old son has always been very neat.  He cleans up after himself, wipes his mouth and hands with a napkin after he eats, hates for drawers to be opened, etc. I definitely encourage this behavior though.  He also enjoys helping me put clothes away (I let him put his bibs in the drawer), etc. He keeps saying, "I'll help, Mommy!"  

Answer 8

pretty unique, I would say.  lol, my kids destroy stuff.  But Im a little compulsive, and have been since I was little (maybe 4 or 5, as much as I can remember).  I like things clean and in order.  You might mention it to the dr at the next well check, though.  Just because youre curious.  

Answer 9

All kids have their own personality I have 4 girls one is a baby so we will see how she goes but out of the other three two are messy as and the third has to have all her things in the right place, I have two that love to go outside and play in the dirt and one that will wash her hands 10 to 15 times a day because they are dirty, it is just part of what makes them them, enjoy it,

Answer 10

It's fairly unique, but it really depends on your parenting style, too. Lol, I've been teaching my daughter to clean up since she was a year, and now she's 20 months and always helps clean up, cept for those rare times when she doesn't want to go to bed yet, or get out of the tub. It was winter and we would let her stay in the tub while the water ran out, and she had to hand us her tub toys before she could get out and get a towel(she loves playing superhero with her hooded towel), lol.

Be prepared, any day now she'll start her "terrible twos" and things will change quite a bit, lol.

Good luck!

Answer 11

Yes it happens.  My boy started at that age by putting rubbish in the bin, chucking his empty bottle in the sink and putting a few toys away.  Just the little things but it's nice to see them copy us.

Answer 12

Fairly common for little kids to be orderly, they are learning about order and routine and like to do things right. My son loved to tidy things up, but then I do it too. However, I can have an absolute quagmire going on in the kitchen, but let someone put an ornament 3cm out of place on the mantelpiece and I can radar in on it without even being in the room. Similarly, his room is a tip but we get told off for leaving cups on the table...

My boy was also extremely clean as a small child, he'd fuss and wipe if we missed when we were feeding him, but now he covers himself in food when he's eating, no qualms whatsoever about squidging an ice cream all over his face (he's 5), and his preferred method of cleaning his hands is secretly calling the dog over. She and he have a system.

They grow in and out of different things, they're all interesting phases.

Answer 13

You have an analytical child and should count your blessings.  This is not uncommon and has a lot to do with her natural born personality. Encourage her to keep it up by praising her.  Not only will it make it easier for you later, her future teachers will adore her! She may also like puzzles. Even at 16 months, she may be able to put together one of those kid puzzles that has 25 pieces. My daughter was able to.