by Pat Lamb (Author of: Let the Children Come; Children, Come to Me; When the Stars Fall Down; Widening the Church Doors to Teach the Narrow Way; My Thinking Book; Love is… )
Books are available on Amazon; Barnes & Noble, or www.patlambchristianauthor.com
Train up a child…
Experience is the Best Teacher
Have you noticed that many times our children don’t seem to know how to do some of the simplest things? Also, how many times have you heard that “kids are so ungrateful” for what they have? Could it be that the reason for both of these concerns is that children don’t realize what goes into the act of providing and caring for them?
Many times I have heard grandparents say, “I just can’t resist giving things to my grandchildren when they ask”. My thought is that they shouldn’t be asking in the first place. We need to teach children to provide for self as much as possible In doing so, they learn about the effort that goes into obtaining the wanted item or items. They learn how to do chores, save money, and most of all they will have a greater appreciation of what they receive.
There are many things that children can do to help out. Even very small children can do simple chores. Older children learn much from tasks given them. When a child asks for money, (which they actually shouldn’t be doing unless it is a necessity for school, etc.) there are certainly many things they can do to help around the home. What are some of those things???
Children can sweep or vacuum. They can wash windows. They can wash dishes, sweep the garage, pick up things, help repair broken things, organize their play area or room, have a yard sale in a safe community, pull weeds, rake leaves, sweep sidewalks, clean refrigerator, mow the lawn, etc. The list goes on and on. Not only do they learn the value of work, but they will appreciate what they get much more than if the money is just handed to them. They learn that “money doesn’t grow on trees” as my folks used to tell me.
It isn’t surprising that many times the children will take better care of what they have earned. Sometimes they even change their minds and decide that thing they wanted isn’t that important after all! We do our children a great disservice when we just give them things when they have no effort involved!