How many adults do you know who have gone through their life without knowing how to do their laundry or cook themselves a proper meal? What about those who choose not to clean up after themselves simply because they know that someone else will?
If you took a wild guess as to why these adults are the way that they are and say that their parents didn’t teach them these important life skills, the chances of you being right might be high. Contrary to popular belief, life skills can be developed earlier than adulthood.
As a parent, it is your job to teach your children about the importance of responsibility. And there is no better method to do this than by allowing them to take part in maintaining the household. Here are three reasons why you should give your children household chores as soon as they start preschool:
#1 Chores can teach kids how to be independent
One of your main duties as a parent is to prepare your children to stand on their own two feet. Giving them chores will teach them to become responsible children who are self-reliant and independent, which are important values as they grow up.
Chores shouldn’t be big or heavy immediately. For instance, you can teach your five-year-old to keep their toys in a bin after playing with them so that their room won’t be messy. Scattered toys can also be safety hazards because people can slip on them, which can cause injuries.
Teaching this lesson to your kids will let them know that their things are their responsibility and that you won’t always be there to clean up after them. As they grow older, you can also let them vacuum their rooms so that dust won’t build up. They should only come to you when they encounter problems.
This is as good a time as any to teach them that they can do things independently, but they are also welcome to ask for help when they need it. In this situation, because they won’t know how to repair the Dyson vacuum, you can step in and help them deal with the matter.
#2 Chores can teach kids important life skills
Your children might be math whizzes, virtuoso, or aspiring athletes, but if they don’t learn about important life skills at a young age, their future can be in jeopardy. This is because life skills are learned through application and practice, not through theories or hypothetical situations.
Doing laundry, preparing meals, or knowing what to do in case of emergencies aren’t topics taught in schools. These are valuable life skills that can be learned by doing household chores and having minor responsibilities that can teach them how to make their own decisions.
You can do this by teaching your kids how to separate their whites from their colored clothes before taking their laundry or encouraging them to help you with dinner preparations instead of playing on the computer. Another thing you can teach them is how to operate the dishwasher or manually wash the dishes.
#3 Chores can teach kids about respecting others
Some adults are aggressively mean towards servers in food establishments simply because they believe that paying for their food can warrant that attitude. These people have no respect for others’ feelings, and it may have something to do about not being taught right by their parents.
You see, if you teach your kids about responsibility at a young age, they will know that they have no right to show that kind of behavior towards others. It’s just like how they have no right to treat you like a house helper who will automatically clean up after them or serve them food without so much as a please and thank you.
Respect must be learned in childhood because it is among the many qualities brought well into adulthood. If your children don’t learn about how to respect other people, not just you or their teachers but strangers too, then they can become ill-mannered and uncivilized adults.
It’s up to you to gauge what kinds of chores you will give to your children and what kind of lessons you’re going to give them so that they can become responsible adults. Let them know that you won’t always be around to be at their beck and call, which is why you’re teaching them how they can stand on their own two feet.
