Kitchen sink piled with dirty dishes, beds undressed, a pair of dirty socks on the floor, trash left in the bin, kids shouting over a video game or enjoying a movie – that’s not a sight any loving parent wants to come home to. Unfortunately, responsibility doesn’t happen naturally. Parents need to teach and coach their kids until they learn this habit that’ll stay with them for the rest of their lives. But how do you do this? Here are some practical ways to teach responsibility to your kids.
Show the way
In most cases, the best way to teach your kids anything is by leading by example. Children pick up the habits their parents display and learn from them. That means, if you leave your room unkempt, don’t clean up after eating, etc., you’re indirectly training your little one to be irresponsible by showing them it’s okay to leave things lying around unattended.
Put them tasks to be responsible for
Many people have suggested that one effective way to make your child more responsible is by allowing them to exercise responsible behavior. In most cases, the first place to start is by giving them basic tasks at home like cleaning dishes, taking out the trash, etc. Pets can also teach children valuable lessons like responsibility. So, when your child excels with the basic home chores, you can take things a notch higher by giving them a pet to take care of. However, you need to ensure that you’re ready to take care of a dog by getting the food and any other thing they need. Thankfully, you can find the best dog food at Walmart and other popular grocery stores.
Enforce accountability
Setting chores for your kids or giving them responsibilities at home is not enough in most cases to make them responsible. You need to hold them accountable if they fail to meet those responsibilities. For example, if you walk into your kitchen and find that the dishes have been left unattended, the last thing you want to do is clean them yourself, as that will only encourage your child to leave them unattended. Enforcing accountability, in this case, means following through with the consequences you had set for failing to clean the dishes.
Make chores fun and avoid making threats
Even adults enjoy tasks that are more fun and social; how much more the little ones? One way to encourage your child to be more responsible, especially regarding home chores, is to make them as fun as possible. For example, if your kid loves spending time with you, they’ll hardly consider folding the laundry a chore when they’re hearing you tell them a story and working with them. You might also want to avoid making threats. It’s essential to set the rules and ensure that your little ones understand the consequences of breaking them. But constantly threatening them might do more harm than good.
Being responsible will prepare your little one for life. Hopefully, you’ll follow these tips for the best results.
Super article. Great ideas for all of us parents to follow in helping our children be more responsible.