This guest-post is brought to you by one of our favorite Campbell MOPS speakers, Teresa Drake! For more great insights and "Simple Truths for Authentic Living," visit her website at www.TeresaDrake.com
It's Never Too Early to Teach Children to "Do Their Fair Share"
Summertime. Time to relax. Time to have fun. And the perfect time to teach the kids new chores. That's right, new chores.
So many times throughout the year I've wanted to institute a few changes around our home, but the pressure of school-related time constraints kept my goals on hold. Long summer days, and the absence of the regular school-day routine, makes it an ideal time to change things up a bit.
Sure, we'll still be playing and exploring, but we'll also be learning more about personal responsibility, contributing to the community (our family and household operations) and getting the job done right. Yes, that last part is REALLY important to me, so I will make it my business to make it important to my children.
There's a lot of talk these days about kids and their collective sense of entitlement. So, rather than simply ranting about how unacceptable and annoying it is, I'm going postal, I mean, proactive! My kids will learn new ways to contribute to the well-being of their community via house-cleaning chores; a novel thought, indeed. While I don't expect them to jump for joy, as they're too old to enjoy being "big helpers," I do anticipate (okay, really I hope to see) their sense of pride and joy at a job well done.
The key to success will be tempering my type-A tendency and gold star expectations with their age-appropriate abilities. That's the challenge for all of us parents looking to instruct our kids in the fine art of...sweeping, mowing, dishwashing, vacuuming - you name it. Presumably, we've had years to perfect our approach, but our children are mere beginners. And let's not fall into the "when I was your age" trap; remember, it's not about you.
Four things influence the process of motivating children to do their chores, according to John Covey, in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families: A Proactive Family Guide.
• Parents must model being responsible by doing housework themselves.
• Parents must have a caring relationship with each child in the family.
• The culture in the home must be cooperative. Do you do things together? Do you help each other?
• Parents must see chores as an opportunity to teach their children both important life skills and values.
To keep your chore-ambitions in check, take a peek at the websites below that list suggestions for chores by age.
Age Appropriate Household Job Charts (www.workingmom.com)
Assigning and Charting Chores (life.familyeducation.com)
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