Consistency, Consistency, Consistency, Consistency, Consistency, Consistency, Consistency!
Research says it takes 7 experiences to make something a habit. Consistency is one of the best healthy habits you can teach children. It helps them to become adults who complete tasks and persevere through challenges. Whatever we say, we must do or expect as the adults in their lives! Whether your family’s resolutions for the year included new chore charts, responsibilities, structure, organization, etc. we must teach children to make the item a matter of daily habit.
A lady once told me that she saved hundreds of dollars each month by picking up something or cleaning one thing in her home for 13 minutes each night (random to me but she said 15 was too long in her mind, LOL). By doing this, she never found quite enough mess to justify the cleaning service saving her thousands over a year. It is the same with children, if we teach them consistency and support their progress, normal family routines/expectations will become a breeze.
Additionally, we must ask things of children that are reasonable, age appropriate, and things that will help them to see themselves in a greater context. Teach children not only the importance of chores but the importance of kind words, making someone’s day, and taking a quiet moment for themselves. Always remember to be consistent with consequences, too. Consequences should always be logical, length appropriate to the age of the child, and filled with support and love to make them the best person they can be.
Children crave structure and procedures, these are some of the reasons so many children are so successful in school because that is what teachers are all about. We spend the first 6 weeks of school mainly focusing on these two areas to make most moments thereafter seamless; we retool when necessary, but the structure is in place. Be consistent with anything new that you start with your child because typically, behaviors do not become automatic for several weeks!
See you next month,
VDT
