…so what does that mean?

It means that you have incredible influence in their lives.  What are you doing with it?

To help stretch my kids (and myself!) I aim to follow this principle daily:

Don’t do something for your son that he can do for himself.
Don’t do something for your daughter that she can do for herself.

The thought behind this principle is that my kids need to step up to the tasks that they can do.  Putting clothes away, cleaning dishes, and helping with household chores are examples of this.

In addition to that, this principle challenges me to teach my children and walk along side them as they help out with things like cooking, maintenance, and grocery shopping.  This can be tough, and it takes incredible amounts of patience.

The other day, Cooba (age 5) asked if he could crack the eggs that I was making for supper.  My initial answer was “no” but I immediately knew that he was capable of cracking eggs.  It was going to make the job “tougher” but I invited him over to the stove top to crack some eggs.

He crushed the first egg in his hand.

The second egg fell onto the range after he cracked it.

Do you sense the frustration building?

On the third try, he was able to crack it successfully and land it in the bowl.

A baseball player who makes a career out of getting a hit once every three attempts is honored into the Hall of Fame.  For Cooba, cracking one out of three eggs successfully was a win.  I needed an extra dose of patience, for sure, but it was more than worth it to see his healthy pride in a job well done.

These shared experiences would not be possible without taking the time to teach and allowing your children to actually do the things that they can do for themselves.

Question: What type of shared experiences do you remember having with your Mom or Dad? Click here to reply.

Photo: stock.xchng  |  User: brokenarts