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Stewardship of personal items is important for children to learn, but how and when to teach them these values, is tricky. My two year old is rough with books, my four year old dog-ears the pages, and some days I find my 6 year old’s shoes in the garden, covered in mud. So when and where does one start training them to take care of their stuff, and how? After a year of asking moms what they do, I came up with this system, that is starting to show results:
I have a 6 year old, 4 year old and {almost} 2 year old, and in the last year or so, I’ve begun ‘special jobs’ – training them (well, the older two) each morning to get their bodies and ‘things’ ready for the day.
Tasks:
Brush hair,
Brush teeth,
Wash hands,
Wash face,
Make bed,
Take vitamins,
Drink water,
Pack jarmies & teddies away,
Open curtains & windows.
Things I’ve learnt teaching my kids the value of stewarding their bodies and their personal things:
1. It takes super amounts of patience.
There are many days I’ll need to help my 4 year old, and we have repeated things every day for a year. Some days she’ll come out fully clothed and strutting around all proud of herself, and other days she’ll beg me to help dress her, from head to toe. Usually I’m in the middle of bathing my youngest, or frying eggs or hanging up washing, and it takes patience to go in with her and train her gently as opposed to being impatient with her as I know she can do it alone! My 6 year old goes most days without asking for help with anything, and I know her time will come, and I’ll most likely miss helping her put on shoes, or brushing her hair, one day! The ‘harder’ times seem to never end sometimes, but when they are gone, you miss them. Sometimes a little patient reassurance/guidance is all they need 🙂
2. Never underestimate the value of a daily & weekly checklist!
Never underestimate the power of a tick! Each child has his/her own checklist behind the bathroom door, with little pictures of each task, and if I find them distracted, or jumping on the bed instead of brushing teeth, instead of getting irritated, I just call ‘okay, what’s next?’ and they’ll run to the bathroom to take a look at the chart. I leave taking vitamins to near the end of the list, so that they have something ‘fun’ to work towards. We also give them a reward every Saturday for a full week of ‘special jobs’ completed – one child loves chocolate milkshake, the other a walk at her favorite beach.
3. Stewardship and a sense of ownership take time, but they do happen!
I’m beginning to see a sense of pride in my 6 year old. It’s taken a LONG time, and he has his days where he will fight me on every job, and I’ll need to bring him & his siblings out of some imaginative game and back to the bathroom to brush teeth or put on shoes, but some days, I see it… he’ll bring me to his room and show me how he has packed his cupboards with his favorite toys and books, or I’ll hear him making beds and lining up teddies during his pre-bedtime reading slot. He has this sense of ownership and order that makes me see all the patient training beginning to pay off, and it’s so sweet to see!
If you’re training little ones at the moment, I encourage you to keep at it, and persevere! It gets easier each month, and certainly each year, and it’s beautiful to see them growing in so many small ways!
Cerys says
Thank you for this.