One of the best ways to help prepare your kids for adulthood is to give them practice with responsibility when they are young. However, responsibility is often something that kids don’t get exposed to until they’ve already created some bad habits regarding taking ownership and accountability for things. But luckily, regardless of the age of your child, there are things you can do to help them learn about responsibility and become more responsible, both now and in the future.
To help you see how this can be accomplished, here are three tips for helping your kids take on more responsibility at home.
Use The Word “Responsible” More
For young kids or kids who aren’t as familiar with the idea of responsibility, one of the very first things you should do is teach them what responsibility means and what things in their life you expect them to have some sort of responsibility over.
To do this, it’s wise to start using the word “responsible” more when speaking with your kids. When you ask them to do something around the house, tell them that they are responsible for that thing. And when they do something that you want them to do as far as taking on more responsibility, give them praise and encouragement for being more responsible and learning more about responsibility.
Stop Doing Things They Can Do Themselves
As a good first step when you’re ready for your kids to start taking on more responsibility, you should stop doing things for them that they can do for themselves. While you won’t want to all of a sudden leave the entire cleaning of the home to them, giving them the chance to do things on their own can help them learn more about responsibility.
Depending on the age of your child, you can have them begin by doing things like clearing their place after eating a meal, putting their clothes away, making their bed, or cleaning up their toys after they’re done playing with them. As they get older, they can and should take on more responsibility for the things they are mentally and physically able to do on their own.
Add One Responsibility At A Time
When you start working toward having your child take on more responsibility at home, it’s best to add new responsibilities one at a time. While you might be tempted to make a big shift at first, giving your child just one new responsibility at a time will give them a chance to get used to this new way of doing things and help them to learn that they are capable of doing things that they once didn’t think that could or should.
If you’re wanting your kids to take on more responsibility at home, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you put this idea into action.
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