Teaching Little Ones Responsibility

When people see me out and about, generally I get a look that says, "Oh, you poor thing." Yes, having three children under 4 is a lot of work, but I think many people in today's society expect so little of small children that the thought of having several is far more overwhelming than it should be. 

In general, our children are capable of far more responsibility than we give them credit for. Not only that, but having responsibility is good for them. They often even enjoy feeling as if they are contributing in some way. 

In our home, we use the chore pack system. Our kids (the older two, obviously) have a few chores they do at different times during the day. The chores are put on little cards and are represented by pictures since they an't old enough to read. They clip a clear pouch onto their clothes and as they finish one chore they move that card to the back of the pouch and start the next chore. 

Before you go thinking I'm a slave driver to make my 2 and 4 year olds do chores a few times a day, let me say that my kids LOVE doing their chore packs. They beg to do them. Also, it makes their behavior much better. 

For example- bedtime. If we stray from our routine our children run around like monkeys escaped from the zoo. We tell them it's time for bed and the tears ensue. By the time we actually wrangle them into bed and collapse on the couch, the house is trashed and we are fried. 

Now, if we stick to our routine our night goes something like this. Things start to get a little crazy, we see it's time for bed and tell them they have 15 minutes until we do chore packs. Telling them we're going to do chore packs, not go to bed makes for no arguments. They play for a bit, then get their chores packs. Since they are so small, Daddy helps one of them and Mommy helps the other. 

Kaytie starts by picking up the great room. Kai starts by picking up the sunroom. They love to see how quick they can get it done, so Mommy and Daddy do quality control. Haha. 

Then they clean up their rooms, put on their pajamas, brush their teeth, then head into the great room with whichever parent has them to do their devotions. Once they've finished their devotions we read a story and they go to bed without argument because it's the way they finish their chore pack. 

We've got a house that's picked up, the kids have gotten some one on one time with us, they've had a story and now everyone gets to end the night on a happy note. And as an added bonus we've taught our children responsibility, to take care of their things, to see a job through to completion. 

Feeling like they have jobs to do throughout the day keeps them out of trouble and gives Mommy some much needed help and structure. Also, when we first had Kaesen, we were still using one diaper bag. I was sure that was the easiest way, since I definitely didn't want to carry three different bags. 

Then I got a teeny bit smarter. I made the older two their own bag with their name on it. This bag is theirs. It stays in their room and is their responsibility when we leave the house. I make sure there's a change of clothes in each of them and a pull-up in Kaytie's. Otherwise, anything they want to take with them when they leave the house is their responsibility. This eliminated negotiations for taking toys when we went places, made the diaper bag lighter, and made it far easier to find what I needed when I needed it. Also when we're out somewhere and someone needs to go potty, another needs a diaper change, we're not trying to divvy up supplies- everyone has their own bag. I can't tell you how many headaches this has saved. 

In much the same way each child has a bucket that's kept in their room. When they want to take toys out of their room to play in another room in the house, they put the toys in their bucket and take it with them. When it's time for naps or bedtime, they put their toys back in their bucket and take it back to their room. 

Just adding little bits of responsibility to our children's lives makes living with them far easier and sets them on the right road to being responsible adults. How do you teach your kids responsibility?