Even without intending to raise our youngsters without the sense of gratitude and humility, many parents fail to realize to what extent their kids have grown accustomed to a certain quality of life, which is above all else, self-centered and needlessly inert, i.e, entitlement.
Granted the modern era comes with many digital perks, what about all the side-effects of its multitude of oversimplified choices? Kids now spend hours glued to a screen, and ask their moms and dads to do things for them. Somehow, we’ve come to the point when our kids feel everything simply belongs to them. But there is still time to squash self-entitlement.
A Fresh Start
Every day is an opportunity for your kids to learn and for you to reinforce positive skills and attitudes, overcome their fears and become more empathetic. That’s why it’s all the more important to start every day with health and closeness in mind, and use every moment to bond, nurture healthy habits and talk to each other about everything and anything that comes to mind.
Teach them to make their beds. Involve the entire family in making breakfast while leaving the digital gadgets out of sight during your morning rituals – no TVs, phones, computers or tablets. If they do use them, let it be for the purpose of supporting their outdoor activities, like picking out equipment in your local online bicycle store for your next nature adventure.
Volunteer as a Pack
It’s one thing to lead by example, and completely another to immerse your kids into the world of giving back. It starts very early, when you as a family spend time crafting thank you cards and letters to your relatives, and sending gifts to those in need. This certainly helps quell entitlement. As years go by, you can involve them in more complex ventures that build a greed mindset, such as cleaning the streets in your community, or making care-packages for the homeless.
When you give them a basis for giving and sharing, they might surprise you with their own ideas. Kids that grow up with a well-developed awareness for Earth-conscious behavior tend to do their best to not only adhere to the given rules, but also make a difference. For instance, Maya Penn was only 8 when she started her first business of making eco-friendly clothes and giving a portion of her earnings to charity.
Family Getaways
Few experiences in life can inspire gratitude and kindness as much as spending time surrounded by nature and away from many digital distractions we’re exposed to daily. My husband and I work a lot during the week, so we use weekends to organize special camping trips and excursions in order to re-boot and connect with our kids.
And for us, every single detail matters! From collecting the wood for the camp fire, to finding edible berries and setting up camping tents, our kids have significant responsibilities during the adventure. They might seem playful and fun on the surface, but they help them develop much-needed survival skills and appreciation for hard work and a digital-free life.
Life-Long Learning
These seemingly marginal skills are in fact essential when it comes to nurturing responsibility, self-reliance and autonomy later in life. Consider them tiny milestones which will give your kids a feeling of accomplishment during the day and teach them how to respect their own effort, as well as that of others. This includes the waiter who brings them a cup of coffee and the cleaning lady from the building.
Nurture Healthy Habits all-around
Learning to take care of themselves instead of waiting for others to take care of them involves a whole slew of tasks that your kids need to include in their daily lives. Encourage them to explore their interests in various sports, teach them about healthy nutrition and home-made meals, and give them age-appropriate chores related to your home cleanliness to enforce a sense of community and the awareness of the needs of others.
Adopt a pet for them to earn a life-long companion and teach them care for a fellow creature. It will help them through those painful teenage years, inevitable losses of life and cope with anxieties of growing up. Growing up with a furry friend will keep them away from screens and help them develop many a healthy habit in life.
These tiny steps will play a pivotal role in how your children perceive the world and themselves. By teaching them true values, you will give the world an entitlement-free human being that will pass on these values for generations to come.
I would love your thoughts and opinions! Leave a comment below.
Thanks so much for reading!
I am linking this with:
The post Raising Kids with Life Skills to Crush Entitlement appeared first on RockinRandomMom.