Teaching Responsibility

It is so important to teach your kids responsibility, but many parents fail in this area. I watch parents that will not allow their children to do anything because they don’t want to deal with the mess, they feel their child will fail, or they don’t want to take the time. Yet, a responsible child needs these skills to be successful in school and to build a strong sense of self.

There are many things you can do to teach your child responsibility. This is an important part of parenting. We will briefly discuss a few ideas.

Give your child chores or things around the house that they must do. Start a small child out by having them make their bed and put their toys away. Give older children jobs that must be done every day, or every week. Giving them work to do around the house helps them belong more to the family and the home.

Find a pet that your child would like and help them learn to care for it. This teaches them to be responsible for another living thing. There are many different choices in pets and many pet stores will help you make that decision.

Make your child be responsible for the consequences of their actions. Allow them to make choices for themselves. Understanding that there are rewards and punishments for their actions helps to develop social skills they need.

As our children grow, we can continue to provide opportunities where our children can learn and develop. Teaching responsibility now will help them make correct choices later in life. This is such an important skill to learn, and one that is easy to teach if we take the time.