The thing about August is that it often marks a transition for our family. We return from a period when our usual routines have been disrupted—perhaps one of us goes back to some more structured work, or new weekly responsibilities arise. With these shifts, a renewed focus on responsibility and routine becomes important for all of us. Many elements of independence that we introduced earlier in the year—especially in May—need to be revisited and reinforced.

Independence

One way we nurture independence is by giving Theo Vilje small tasks to take charge of—such as packing his backpack, putting things away, eating on his own, setting the table, cleaning the table or finding his diapers. We also offer him choices and help him sort items into categories, like “this is clothing,” “this is an animal,” or “this is a vegetable.” All of this happens through play-based learning in close connection to nature, which not only supports his understanding of the world but also strengthens his sense of ownership and builds language skills.

Responsibility

Responsibility means caring for things, the earth—and for others. We encourage Theo Vilje to handle fragile items like berries and eggs gently. These everyday moments provide great opportunities to teach care and attention. We also talk about clear, age-appropriate consequences:

• “If the egg breaks, we clean it up.”
• “If all the books come out, we need to put them back.”

If our door-step are dirty we will clean it up, if we find trash we will keep it until we find some place to throw it away. In Cambodia trash is a real challenge so this became really important to us at that time. And when someone is sad or falls over, we encourage him to help or comfort them—because responsibility includes caring for people, too.

Natural Consequences

Responsibility and natural consequences go hand in hand. If you jump in the pool with your clothes on, you’ll be wet—a lesson he learned quickly at one and a half. When he wants to go somewhere, we support his independence by asking him to walk on his own. He’s allowed to rest but is encouraged to keep trying. At that age, he could walk, carry things, and return items to where they belonged. Of course, that didn’t mean he stopped making a mess. But we tried to follow through on the responsibilities we gave him, and we as adults also spent time reflecting: when are consequences helpful, and when is it better to let natural consequences do the teaching? Now that he is approaching two and a half—our approach to responsibility has evolved to take responsibility for more difficult tasks, like taking of clothes and starting to put them on.

Focus

Another important part of development at this stage is building focus. We gently encourage him to play on his own a little longer or try once more to get his shoes on. At one and a half, these were big achievements that supported both his confidence and independence. Reading became a favorite activity that helped lengthen his attention span, and still is. We also started simple matching games, such as placing animals on pictures of the same animal, lotto and memory, to help reinforce focus in a playful way. At two and a half this continued but the ability to have focus would last longer. As adults we also had to learn not to interrupt when he was playing on his own.

Trolls

We continue to stay connected to nature—picking berries, working in the garden, and spending time outdoors as a family. August is the month of harvesting when we are in Norway. If we are out traveling we still try to incorporate harvesting activities. This time of year also brings a special focus on Norwegian folktales, especially stories about trolls. Theo Vilje has loved these tales since he was about 14 months old. It feels meaningful to revisit them every autumn, strengthening his sense of cultural connection while sparking imagination and wonder. They are also amazing for role playing, imagination and language development which was a huge hit for him at 2 and a half.