An Important Life Skill: Starting To Teach Our Children To Take On More Responsibilities

Flickr 

 

Responsibility is one of those things that we need to teach our children at some point, but we could feel that there is no need to do this until they are of a certain age. Responsibility starts early on in life, but how can we teach our children responsibility, no matter their age? 

 

A Reward System

This is something we can start as soon as our children are mentally aware. They do something good, they get a reward. And this is the key to so many of the essentials in life that we want our children to do, from eating their greens to looking after the pet. It’s just that the reward turns into something different as your children get older. It could be chocolate, to begin with, but it could be something more substantial later in life.

 

Not Turning It Into A Chore

Rather than saying that our children have to do something, think about wording it in a different way so that they don’t feel like it’s a chore. Chores signify boring things, so consider making it part of the fun. For example, if your children don’t want to brush the family dog, ask your children to go and play with the dog instead, and take the brush with them. Sure, they may not brush the dog, to begin with, but if you can encourage them just to smooth the dog once, and the next time, they do it twice, it will have turned into a chore that they didn’t want to do, but has now become an automatic habit.

 

The Essential Duties

This is essential, especially when it comes to family pets, the essential duties like medication and hygiene are high up the scale of importance and as our children get older, we can trust them more with these duties, and we can lay the foundations early on. We can do this by getting our children to sit with us while we administer the essential meds, CBD oil, or whatever you need to do for the dog. And if the kids don’t know how much CBD oil for dogs is too much, then you’re there, guiding them every step of the way. As your children get older, and they get more comfortable with these very important duties, you can slowly step away safe in the knowledge that they know what they’re doing.

 

The Mindset Of “Cleaning Up After Our Mess”

And if you’ve got children that don’t take responsibility for anything, you’ve got an uphill battle. It’s important, as soon as possible, to teach your children that they are responsible for the mess that they make. If we lead by example and show that if we make a mess, we clear up after it ourselves, this sends the right message. But we have to keep reiterating this. These days, it’s easier for us to do something, rather than ask our children 50 times. But this has to stop. If you want to teach your children responsibility, it’s as important as getting your children to exercise, study, and all of the important skills in life.