Teaching Kids To Be Independent

Yesterday, I visited one of my friend. My friend was busy preparing some snacks so I joined to help her and we were busy chit-chatting doing our work when her daughter came in and asked for a glass of water. As we both were busy, she told her daughter that a bottle of water was kept in her room and so she can take it from there but instead of obeying the young girl started crying loudly throwing tantrums. And my friend immediately washed her hands and rushed to get her a glass of water.

I feel it's very important that every member in the family participate and take responsibilities. So, this is the one important aspect I've developed in my son. Umar (almost 4 yrs) lends his helping hand in almost everything, be it laying the table, cooking, cleaning-up(clothes, cupboards, toys and everything). I ensure that I don’t over-burden him with his work. Despite the fact that we have a domestic help in our house, yet few things have to be done. This attitude not only makes kids responsible but also gives them the confidence to handle things independently.

Some days back, we had some guests at home. Umar by mistake spilled some juice on the floor. I just pointed this out to him and said “Oh! Umar look at the mess you've created”. He immediately picked up a cloth and cleaned it all up and the guests were amazed that a little boy did his work well. Umar did the cleaning very gracefully and efficiently. After a minute of silence, everybody said– “You've really raised your son well and we are proud of you” and I too felt proud of myself.

These are few of Umar's daily chores:
*Laying the table and clearing(of course, he assists me and my husband in this).
*Keeping newspapers, magazines and books in the assigned place.
*Unpacking his bag after coming from school and keeping the water bottle in the kitchen for wash.
*Making beds (getting pillows and bedsheets for sleeping).
*Organizing stuff like clothes, toys etc.
*Keeping things in their place (shoes, socks etc).
*Assisting me for Sundays special cooking (getting items I need from the fridge )
*Putting his dirty clothes in the laundry bin etc.

I've heard some Moms say that this distract kids from their studies.... But I believe, life has much bigger lessons for learning than just learning stuff that is prescribed in school... And I stand for it. It very important for parents to make the kids feel that as they grow up they have to be responsible for the household activities and there is nothing to be ashamed of it but be sure that they only give you a helping hand and not spend their whole day doing these activities.