Folks, teaching your kids how to do certain things is always a good idea no matter how young they are.
It’s something that can always benefit them if they find themselves in a situation where they just need to know.
For example, I grew up in an Air Force family where my father was often times out of the country or at the very least away from the house a lot. Mom worked full time on the base in one of the stores for extra money and I would often times find myself alone for about three hours after school.
I was given a key to the house and told to give it to nobody and to not even let it out of my sight for even a second.
This was all when I was ten to eleven years old and as I got older there were certain things that I was taught to do for if I ever needed to when mom and dad weren’t home. Far as cooking went, when I was little I was limited to sandwiches, cereal and little microwave things when I was in the 5th grade.
As I got older, I was allowed to use other things. I was shown how to use these machines so if I ever needed to use them on my own I could because eventually I was going to get to the point in my life where I would be doing all of it on my own and then eventually teaching my own kids.
I remembered calling my mom the first time my son made scrambled eggs for himself when he was about twelve. I stood by for support and made sure he knew what he was doing but otherwise stayed out of the way. My mom sounded so proud on the phone and it made me think about how there are too many kids that aren’t being shown how to do basic stuff these days.
Via AWM:
Starting a family and raising children is perhaps one of the most personal decision a couple can make together. No one but the couple can decide when the right time to have children is, and as they’re growing up, parents usually know what’s best for their little ones. However, this does not stop experts from sharing their two-cents about what children should be able to do and when.
After experts published their testament about what children age eight and older should be doing, some parents threw a fit. Although this finding would actually relieve a major burden on many parents, some still believe it is too early for children age eight to do their own laundry.
When children have everything done for them throughout their lives, they fail to be able to take care of themselves as they move out of their parents’ house and do their chores. This trend is rather disappointing and means that a large number of young adults are “stunted” and resort to living with mom and dad as long as possible to stave off the expectation of running their life.
Experts are now urging parents to push their children into doing more around the house at younger and younger ages. Dr. Deborah Gilboa claims that parents need to push their children as young as 18-months-old to get involved in the household cleaning process. This could mean just cleaning up toys at the end of the day and or wiping up spilled oatmeal. Although these toddlers might not be able to do the best job at cleaning, they’re good at learning and are able to join the family in these errands rather quickly. And why not start them young?
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDcB8buur9w]
Dr. Gilboa believes that teaching young children to clean and complete chores establishes a strong character from the beginning. If you want your children to grow up with integrity and independence, getting them started with household chores at a young age helps.
In a YouTube video, Dr. Gilboa describes how parents can start to encourage children as young as eight to do their own laundry. Not only does this teach the younger generation personal responsibility, but it also encourages them to care about their belongings and learn how to take care of the stuff they own.
