Blog: Helping Kids Become Organized
The ABC's of Organizing Kids: I is for Involve your kids

We often do not recognize how much our kids are capable of doing and try to minimize what we "make them do or put them through".  Some parents say let them be kids; don't make them work; they will be working all their life.  I spent 18 years working as an engineer and in management full time plus many extra hours and my children had to be involved and, as a result, learned to be very responsible.  Did that make them miss their childhood?  I don't think so.  Today our oldest two children, who are now pretty much on their own, are very responsible and successful young adults that we could not be more proud of.

Involving our children in what needs to be done around the house, taking care of their own things and planning or helping plan their own events is part of our responsibility as being our children's first teacher.  It has the same importance as teaching them academically, spiritually and morally.  Involving our children doesn't always mean putting them to work; it also means giving them respect.  Ask them for their input or opinion, when making decisions that impact them or the family.   Children want to have an important place in the family unit and when they have responsibilities, they feel more responsible.  The old saying "we reap what we sew", I feel is applicable here.  When any of us do not make an investment into something, we cannot care the same about it.  Children often do not know what it takes to accomplish tasks, what it takes to have certain things, etc. When they are "involved" they have more of an appreciation for things and a deeper respect for what it takes to get them.  It is hard though, sometimes for us as adults to take the time to teach them versus do it ourselves.  It is often easier to do it ourselves.  Make that the exception versus the rule; as it is our investment in them that is our part as their first teacher.

We can involve them in planning family or holiday events, family vacations, gift purchases, chores, meal planning and preparation and many other things. It is through this involvement that we have the opportunity to not only teach our children lifelong skills but it also allows our children to understand that their contributions "afford" us the ability to have the time and resources to do many things they need from us; like the time we spend taking them to sports practices or other extracurricular activities.  Involving children in all that we can also reaps great benefits in their ability to take care of themselves when they are on their own.  Even though, as parents we sometime want to think of our children as "always needing us"; I have learned, with difficulty that the biggest compliment we can receive from our children (spoken or unspoken) is their ability to manage without us.

posted on: 12/3/2007 9:00:00 AM by Rosanne Larkins
category: Family

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Helping Kids Become Organized

by Rosanne Larkins

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About Rosanne:

Rosanne Larkins, Defining Time & Space Professional Organizing, Helping people put peace into their life through simplifying things around them. Reduce stress through creating order, save money knowing what you have, save time knowing where to find things.