New Season, Old Habits
By Emily Mall —
May 17, 2024
Are you struggling to get your kids back into a routine?
With all the effort it takes to get your family to have and follow new habits and routines (put your dishes in the sink, stop leaving wet towels on the floor, put your shoes away), it’s hard to get back on track after a break.
We get it.
Ever since Spring Break, we’ve been working on getting our kids back into the habit of doing their jobs every week.
It’s hard for them (and us) because:
- they would rather do anything else
- they remember the pain part and forget the reward part
- the pattern is broken so momentum to get going again is tough
- it comes with the feeling of failure since it started and stopped
Repeating this cycle over and over with our kids is exhausting for us parents and caregivers. Once you get a good rhythm going, you take a week off for vacation and come back to realize all the work you’ve done to help your kids stick to a routine is gone. It’s so hard to jump back in! Especially when you know that it will happen again in few weeks over Christmas or summer break.
It almost feels like it’s not worth it. But it is!
Why is teaching our kids habit and goal setting skills important?
1. It builds perseverance
2. It teaches them responsibility for their own behaviors and learning
3. It promotes a “can-do” attitude
4. It forms a powerful life-long habit
5. It’s critical for developing grit
6. It’s vital for teaching kids skills to get what they want out of life
It’s taken a week or two, but our girls are back to working hard and earning money. They’ve set financial goals for themselves and are seeing the results every weekend when they get paid for their hard work. They are watching their money grow, and once again enjoying the delight of being able to purchase the things they want.
We talk a lot about habits and goal setting in Episode 8 of our podcast. If you are looking to get started or for more ways to help your kids, The Cook Center for Human Connection has ten ways to help children learn goal setting skills.
This Week: Remember that instead of constantly reminding our kids to use the potty, be gentle, and use their inside voices, we are now in the next parenting stage of reminding them to do their homework, finish their jobs, and use deodorant. It’s all part of raising amazing kids and you're not alone in this tough, frustrating, beautiful, and rewarding season. It’ll be worth it.
And...you’re doing a great job! Keep it up!
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