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The GOAL of Intelligent, Thinking Parents Is To ENSURE That THEIR CHILDREN Become RESPONSIBLE Adults
Raising RESPONSIBLE Children! It CAN Be Done!
The main goal of parenthood is to raise children as to make them need you less and less. In other words, the goal of a parent is to eventually make the role of parenthood a totally unnecessary component in their child's life. The intelligent parent raises an adult, not a child.
There are some enlightened parents who believe in teaching their children responsibility and independence early on in life. As soon as a child is able, he/she is given age-appropriate tasks. He/she may not be proficient in them initially. However, the child eventually becomes more proficient at the tasks at hand as he/she progresses.
These parents realize that and do not expect their children to be perfect the first time they undertake a task. They portend that it is a child's nature to want to be as autonomous and independent as possible. They help their children obtain those goals. They may teach a 3 year old child to pick up after himself/herself. After the task is completed, they tell the child what a wonderful job he/she has done. They further add that he/she is such a big boy/girl because he/she can do the task all by himself/herself. Of course, the child feels good hearing this and this makes him/her want to do more tasks.
Many children from 3-4 years of age can be taught to tie their shoes. Also, a parent can teach them the rudiments of tidying up their rooms. They can do simple things such as putting napkins on the table. Nothing arduous yet. Besides when they know that they can do and complete a task, they feel good. Also, they feel important, knowing they are active contributors to their respective households.
As a child becomes older, these parents assigned him/her more complex tasks. A 5 or 6 year old child may be assigned to put the dishes in a dishwasher and/or put away the dishes. He/she usually can set the family table. He/she can also be taught how to vacuum and/or clean his room and/or entire house. He/she also is quite capable to help his parents with preparing and cooking simple things such as making toast and cooking eggs. Many 5 or 6 year olds know how to make up his/her bed without much fanfare.
A 7 year old child is quite capable of making a sandwich, salad, and a light breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner for his/her family. Parents can enlist the help of their children in making simple dinners such as fried chicken, french fried potatoes, and a crisp salad. These simple dinners need not be complex and it is great way for the family to bond together and to discuss the day's events.
9 to 10 year olds can do their laundry and/or the family wash. They are capable of taking out the garbage. Parents can also enlist them to do babysitting duties when the occasion arises. Also, parents can develop the budding capitalist and/or entrepreneur in their children of this age category by having them sell cookies, fruit drinks, and/or other related stuff to make their own monies. Parents and their children can search the internet for legitimate and good business opportunities for children.
Children 11 years of age and/or older can effectively prepare a multicourse dinner. Older preteen children can do light garden work around the house and mow the lawn. During the preteen stage, children are more than capable of doing rigorous housework such as vacuuming the entire house and cleaning the bathrooms.
Naturally teenagers can be assigned to clean the house weekly or biweekly. They are very capable of babysitting their younger siblings when the occasion arises. They can also assist with shopping duties or do the shopping themselves. They also can can plan and prepare a menu for dinner. Since teenagers are considered to be protoadults, they should be able to do most nearly everything around the house.
Parents can instill the importance of a summer job to teenagers. They can impart to their teenage children that it is good to work for their own money. Not to digress, smart parents teach and/or impart to their children the importance of money management at a young age.
Children should be taught that they should not spend all of their allowance. Effective money management entails that they should save part/invest of their monies, spend a small percentage of it, and to donate some to charities. If they want extra monies, they could earn that money by doing more arduous/complex household chores and/or by becoming more entrepreneurial.
Having a summer job instills in a teenager a measurable work ethic which will follow them into adulthood. Even though their summer job positions may be mediocre, the skills that they gain from the summer job experience can be transferred into better job positions in the future. They also learn how to effectively interface with co-workers, bosses/supervisors, and the public. In fact, one of the most important lessons a teenager and/or any young person could learn from a job is how to patiently and calmly, and efficiently interface with the public with total aplomb!
In addition to those tangible skills, working at a summer job afford teenagers the opportunity to fully appreciate the money they earn and what they can purchase with that money. People tend to appreciate more the items that they purchase themselves. It also gives them a can do attitude. Nothing makes a person happier than to be able to do things for himself/herself.
A summer job, especially an undesirable one, teaches teenagers the value of taking one's studies seriously and pursuing a more marketable major in college. When one has a less than desirable summer job, it is a constant reminder that in order to have a better job, one must have a marketable major which guarantees better and more available jobs. It also teaches one that one must stay in school if he/she wants better job prospects.
Teaching a child how to be independent and responsible are the greatest gifts a parent can give. Children who are independent and responsible possess self-assurance and the savvy to handle almost any situation. They have the ability to improvise if need be. They also have the ability to do and create anything. They also know how to use, update, and transfer their skills. Furthermore, they have the survival life skills to endure when things become difficult and/or less than positive.
Children who are independent and responsible are likely to appreciate their unique power. They realize what they can do. They can also take risks and take responsibility for their lives. They are, in essence, the owners of their lives. They are also the most successful in life because they have been embued with a good work ethic.
Teaching a child is be independent and responsible in their lives is infinitely more important than giving a child monetary riches because those riches can come and go but being independent and responsible are traits that no one can take away from a child. When a child is independent and responsible, there is nothing that he/she cannot do nor achieve!
In summation, teaching a child to be independent and responsible is the most important thing a parent can do. Parents who impart to their children the importance of these two component have children with a strong work ethic, strong survival skills, and a sense of power and autonomy in their lives. What more can a parent ask for!