One of the most common complaints of most parents is the lack of responsibility of the children.
Not only do they not help with household chores, but they also do not fulfill their personal obligations.
A sense of responsibility must be instilled from the time children are young, and it will require a lot of patience and perseverance from the parents.
Parents: As Role Models of Responsibility
Children must be aware that each member of the family must have their personal and family responsibilities..
That’s being said..
Parents must be the example to follow!
We cannot require a child to have his clothes tidy when the parents do not do theirs, or we cannot pretend to be punctual when the child sees his father leaving every day late to go to work.
A rule of thumb: The rules should be established from the time the child is small so that little by little he assumes them
Education in responsibility consists of helping and teaching children to accept their mistakes, to rectify if necessary, and above all to fulfill obligations and commitments.
Parents must not confuse responsibility with obedience. Since if children act only out of obedience, they will end up becoming submissive children.
They should ask questions, ask for clarification, or complain.
In this way, parents will have the opportunity to teach them the value of doing certain things.
Establish rules to encourage responsibility for children.
Children do not know their limits, this makes them feel very insecure, and most of the time it is the cause of them behaving incorrectly.
For this, it is advisable to establish a series of norms that serve as reference points.
Then again,
We must try to establish these rules as early as possible!
We should start with simple tasks that the child knows how to do and gradually introduce and teach more complex ones.
So as the child grows, more is demanded of him.
How to encourage responsibility for children.
The first thing parents should do is teach their children what we expect of them and be very clear when it comes to explaining what to do and what not.
We should not expect a child to do something that he has not yet learned, sometimes children do not distinguish the right way of doing things from the wrong way.
For this reason, it is particularly important to show him the steps that must be followed so that the child does what we intend.
For example, if we want the child to dress, we will only have to teach him how to do it, the child is not born knowing it.
That said..
Here are some tips and trick to help teach your little one to be responsible:
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Teach the value of the effort:
The best inheritance that parents can leave to their children is to give them the ability to fend for themselves, to face difficulties, and to know the value of things!
Therefore, parents should present the effort as something positive and not as a burden or a disgrace.
You must show your kids that making an effort to get something is something natural and required for the achievement.
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Encourage participation in household chores:
Kids must be part of the household duties from their early stage!
They should be given small responsibilities such as, for example, putting napkins on the table, picking up toys, respecting schedules, and keeping commitments.
Another good example: if the child has decided to play a sport, they should be consistent with the decision, respect the training days, the schedules, and the difficulties that this entails.
The tasks must have a moderate and progressive difficulty, and above all adapt them to the age and capacity of the child.
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Parents should never take responsibility for the tasks:
The child must fulfill his own responsibility, no matter what!
Parents can help, orient, or advise, but they should never assume those responsibilities in such a way that the child disengages.
For this, you have to stand firm and not lose patience.
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Praise children when they fulfill their obligations:
Congratulate and praise them for their small achievements and make them see the importance of carrying out their responsibilities.
In case they make a mistake, make sure to encourage and teach them the correct way to do it.
Parents must explain the reasons for these mistakes and teach them the proper way to do things.
Takeaway
An important aspect of early childhood education is teaching the child to take responsibility as he grows up.
This will not only help your kid to follow the rules and be more disciplined, but also to gain autonomy and independence.
In fact, children who take responsibility for their actions early on have been shown to become safer people and make better decisions in life than those who learned responsibility later in life.
