Personal Responsibility

It seems like a lot of kids and teens today lack a strong work ethic and sense of personal responsibility. I noticed it before I had children, but it did not become so glaringly obvious until after I became responsible for molding my own young minds. I want something different for my sons, I want them to be hard-working, capable, helpful, thoughtful, responsible young men. I have thought about different ways to start instilling these values in them while they are young, and I have recently landed on household chores. Aiden has gotten to an age and mental capacity that he can start taking on more responsibilities around the house, but mostly in his own room.  I think that is important to make things fun, I try to take a "Mary Poppins" attitude toward cleaning when I'm cleaning with the boys. In trying to make things fun and organized for Aiden's new responsibilities, I made him an Avengers themed chore chart! I picked up a cookie sheet at the 99 cent store and some magnets on clearance at Walmart, so this didn't break the bank. The only spendy part was the paint, but I have multiple projects that I plan on using it for so it is not so bad. I still have a few more magnets to make, but I did not want to overwhelm him with too many tasks at once. The fun part is that he has started to think of new magnets for me to make, I am glad that it was so easy to get him on board! If he does all his chores in a day, he gets to put one of the small magnets onto the corresponding circle. If he completes all his chores for the week, he gets a special treat. I have not determined exactly what that is yet, but will probably vary from week to week. He just recently had a "Daddy Adventure Day" with David and absolutely loved it, so I am thinking about having another one of those in the rotation for rewards.

Aiden's current chores include:

• Make his bed
• Brush his teeth
• Pick up his dirty clothes
• Open & Close his curtains
• Water the plants
• Put on his pajamas
• Pick up his toys
• Help Set & Clear the table

Fun Times in the Hallway with Friends!

Aiden is a lover of animals, so he was pretty excited when we put a hummingbird feeder

on his window. This is one of the first hummingbirds we got! We were all pretty stoked

when it came!

Daddy Adventure day was inspired by this book
that Aiden chose to check out at the library. It is
a really cute book that I highly recommend for all
little boys.

"The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence."

Denis Waitley