When it comes to parenting our children, we all want to teach our kids responsibility. 
If you care about your son or daughter as much as I do then you probably have been guilty of spoiling them a bit. Unfortunately this practice is not a good way of empowering our kids. You need to nurture their abilities, not take them away. And of course we do this out of love, but there comes a time when parents must learn to never do for their kids what they can do for themselves.
It’s tough at times, I know, but well worth it when you start thinking in terms of the future. For example, you must start instituting little chores around the house and other smaller responsibilities as soon as they are old enough. This will help teach them to be respectful of their atmosphere and to start learning that life takes a little “maintenance” each day.
This is especially true when it comes to giving your kids money. As they reach the age where they can actually work, then you must learn not to give them money every time they ask. Teach them how to earn for themselves. And if they are still too young for a part time job then allow them to earn money at home from mowing the yard, doing [tag-ice]daily chores[/tag-ice] around the house, or by extra activities on the weekends.
Speaking of chores, do you often hear yourself saying: “Clean up your room!” It can be a bit frustrating to have to tell your child over and over again to clean their room, take out the trash, or to help in any manner related to chores? Anybody with children old enough to take on small responsibilities around the house has gone through this. And the reason why we are getting frustrated is because we compare their small chores as minimal compared to our adult responsibilities.
Want to know why kids don’t do chores? Do we lack the right [tag-cat]parenting[/tag-cat] skills? I would say no. It is because the work is not a priority for them. As an adult, you are programmed to know that any work is a priority. Now think back when you were little. You didn’t like to do any type of household chores either. Why? Because you had better things to do, like playing with your toys, riding your bike, or perhaps playing [tag-tec]video games[/tag-tec].
Kids often despise chores because they have such busy schedules and they have very little free time. From morning to late afternoon they are in school. Then they have to do homework. Then of course there is family time and dinner. Before you know it they have to wash up for bed so that they be up for school the next day. So keep these things in mind the next time you get angry because your child is not doing his or her chores. Just remember, in the life of a child, they are busy too. Our job as parents and as their coaches in life, is to show them why chores are important and how doing chores help everyone out in the family.
Whether your child is young or old make sure they realize how much they are helping out and that they are thanked or rewarded for helping out with their chores. I know chores are not always fun, but anytime you can make them fun to do helps to increase your childs willingness to do them.
The best time to start teaching responsibility is when the child is young, and giving your little one some chores to do not only teaches them responsponsibility but pride in their accomplishments. Make sure you thank them and let them know how much they are helping mommy and daddy. By start out young and feeling a sense of accomplishment you may have less of a problem later in their lives when you ask them to help out.
While I applaud the opening of this article and think it is critical that our children grow up to be responsible members of a community who pull their own weight–at home, at school and in society, I disagree with the underlying assumption behind this approach to teaching responsibility.
My experience with running schools for children 2.5 to 14, as well as with my own 4 children and 6 grandchildren, is that rather than not liking to do adult work, children naturally want to do work that is of real value to those they love–or heck–just for other people. Helping others is a natural act. In fact the adult assumption that helping is an unnatural act, causes to kids to behave as if it is unnatural.
My advice is to give kids opportunities to real adult work as soon as you can (at least by age 2 or 3). To quote my 3-year-old grandson: “I like to work.” He speaks for all children I have ever known.