As our children get older giving them more responsibility and trusting them to complete more task will only help them grow and learn to be more self sufficient as time moves on. Now depending on their age you have to think about what responsibilities you are offering however a quick story. This past weekend Kayla hosted a bridal shower for one of her close friends. I knew Quinn was excited to be a part of it and Sunday she helped us get ready and clean the house. As people arrived she asked how she can help and we let her know some of the things she could do. She was happy to contribute and as I left to let the party begin i knew she would be fine.
When I got back Kayla said she was such a good helper. She told me Quinn walked around taking plates and helping clean up. She was good and listened and talked to the other ladies that showed up. I was excited to see her helping out and taking the lead to do things like clean up and help, she knew Kayla was busy and took responsibility on her own. I know children around this age like the attention and sometimes I worry if she will get bored as they do. It happens, however this was good so as part one of this two part blog I will say as a tip.
1) Start when they are young and let them have some responsibly like cleaning up their toys.
2) Then move on as they get older like having them put up their dish after eating.
3) As they reach an even older age they can assist in cooking and cleaning up more too.
4) Move away from assisting to more just asking them polity, then move to not saying anything and seeing if they will do something like put their dishes away after dinner without asking.
5) Most important give them room to grow and trust them. If you are having a party let them feel included and let them have their own set of responsibilities, I bet they will love the feeling of being a part of the process and helping out!
Kids do like to help out because it makes them feel they are contributing and they like the reward of their parents telling them they did a great job. As a parent watch them take on more responsibilities and make sure to reward them with praise like telling them they did a good job and hugging them. This is worth more than a sweet treat. So as I noted this is part one of this post because tomorrow when we have Quinn I have a task for her. I will be assembling a cooking tool and will require her help. I am excited to ask her and have her assist.
So as I finish this post, simple but start trusting your children with more and more task and responsibilities Remember praise with words and hugs, you don't always need physical things like toys or candy. This will set them up for life where after we do a good job at work our boss may say nice work but that's it. Per that is our job and we can't do something the put our hand out.
I hope this little quick tip helped and look for tomorrows post!
Always Remember,
You are never alone...
Love,
Christopher
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