How to Raise Responsible Kids
As parents, you probably want to raise your children to be responsible, but you may be unsure just what that looks like or how to do it. First, it helps to know what responsibility really means.
What Does It Mean to Be Responsible?
In a nutshell, being responsible means taking a personal interest in and doing something about your own welfare and that of your family and community. Being responsible means not waiting for someone else to do something for you that you can do for yourself. When you are responsible, you know when to take the blame for something and admit when you’re wrong.
Responsibility means taking it upon yourself to do something about a problem – your own, your community’s, your family’s, etc. – and not waiting for someone else to do it.
How Can You Teach Your Kids to Be Responsible?
Here are some tips on teaching responsibility to your children. Be sure to modify the following for your kids’ ages and temperaments.
1. Accept “bad” feelings
It’s tempting for parents to think that their primary job is to make sure their kids are happy all the time. But being able to take your kids’ negative feelings is key to teaching them responsibility. Why? Because your kids may be annoyed, upset, angry, or otherwise unhappy about having to take responsibility.
Young children may cry or yell or stomp their feet when you ask them to put away their toys, but if you calmly accept that these feelings are part of it, you will be less likely to scramble to stop the negative feelings and relent on the task.
2. Follow Through
As parents one of the most important things we can do is to do what we say we