Are your kids turning into a couch decoration that hardly ever moves? Can you be a proud parent because you always know exactly where they are? This could be a good thing for our nerves when we do not have to wonder where they are, but how good is it for their health when they are constantly sitting on the couch or floor playing video games or watching television. This has become a serious habit for some kids and many parents are at the end of their rope when it comes to getting them out of the house and being more active.
Parents are not the only ones concerned about how inactive many of our kids are becoming. Obesity among children it at its highest level since records were started years ago. A large part of this obesity is due to the technological world we live in. Children used to love playing outdoors because most of the time there was not much to do inside the house that was that much fun. That is definitely not true today. Kids are suffering from high cholesterol and sometimes even high blood pressure. This is stemming from the large amounts of fats in their diet and also from the lack of enough physical activity to burn off all of those fatty calories.
So, what can parents do to help get their kids moving short of starting a fire under their rear ends? The object is to get them to get outdoors and be more active. It is hard to get them away from computers, video games, and their favorite videos. The trick is to make outside activities just as enjoyable. This might require some movement on your part as well. This means that if you want then to become involved in exercise of the physical kind, you might just have to roll up your sleeves and get out there with them.
Many parents involve their kids is sports activities that go on in their community, but this might not be for all kids or fit into every family schedule. Sometimes spontaneous things like just going out and tossing a ball around or going for an unplanned bike ride is beneficial. They get their exercise, you get yours, and if your lucky you and your kid get to spend time getting to know each other again and have a smoking, calorie burning good time doing it.
You know how it is ... You come home to find the house a mess, backpacks in front of the door, the kids are screaming at each other, clothes strewn everywhere, dirty dishes in the family room, more dirty dishes on the kitchen table. And the moment you ask for help, a bigger screaming match breaks out.
You know your children need to be responsible and self-sufficient, but life happens. You vow to implement a system, saying to yourself "I'll get around to it later". But in the real world, later often never comes.
Studies show that children who perform household chores during their school years attain more success in adulthood than those who do not. Follow these simple strategies and you could soon be hearing ... "Mom, Can I Help Around the House?"
1. Assume the role of teacher
Children learn to read, write, add and subtract from their school teachers. A parent's role as teacher and mentor of essential life skills and home management is equal in importance.
2. Commit yourself for the long-haul
Consistently send the message to your kids that you're in this for the long haul. You will be rewarded by their commitment as well.
3. Provide age-appropriate tools and instruction
Give your child every opportunity to succeed by providing the right tools for the job, ample instruction, modeling how you want the job done, a timeline for completion, and provide plenty of opportunities for practice.
5. Get Buy-in by Involving Your Kids in Designing a Chore System
The more involved your children feel in the process, and they feel that their input is valued, the more ownership they will feel for the assigned tasks and the overall success of the system.
6. Create Non-negotiable House Rules
Without ground rules, how can you expect your children to know what constitutes acceptable or unacceptable behavior? Rules provide the boundaries children need to help them learn and practice acceptable behaviors.
7. Normalize Home Maintenance Routines
Every family member should have responsibilities to help family life run smoothly. Set the precedent that performing family chores is as normal as brushing their teeth.
8. Acknowledge How Their Contribution Helps You
When your child learns how much their contribution helps you, you are actively reinforcing a child's desire to contribute more. It not only boosts their self-esteem, but it also develops their sense of service to others.
9. Be Consistent in Your Discipline
Child experts agree that sending mixed messages to children with inconsistent discipline creates the most resistant, maladapted behavior of all.
These nine strategies will help give you guidelines and strategies for implementing your own household chore system where every family has an age-appropriate role in home maintenance.
Both Aydan Corkern & Janet Nusbaum are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Aydan Corkern has sinced written about articles on various topics from Motorola Cell Phone, Finances and Keyboard Synthesizer. Aydan Corkern is a writer of many topics, visit some of her sites, like and. Aydan Corkern's top article generates over 246000 views. to your Favourites.
Janet Nusbaum has sinced written about articles on various topics from Dog Grooming, Health and self improvement and motivation. Janet Nusbaum (AKA the Organizing Genie), WAHM of two, is an Organizing Consultant, & Author of 'Mom, Can I Help Around the House? A Simple Step-by-step System for Teaching your Children Life-long Skills for Pitching in & Picking up'. Grab a FREE CHAPTER. Janet Nusbaum's top article generates over 673000 views. to your Favourites.