I’m back today chatting about the topic of Family Organization! (I’m typing this as I’m recovering from a four-hour birthday party we hosted over the weekend!)
If you have missed any previous posts in this simple series – go HERE. Whether you have one or 10 kids you will find easy to implement solutions that will help to keep your family humming along!
My hubby and I took a parenting class early on when our oldest was just a baby. The class we took taught us so many useful and practical parenting techniques. We were very blessed by the group and we really took the tools to heart. I know it helped shape us into the parents we are today. (Although every day we continue to be sharpened and refined, because that’s what parenting does to you!)
One of the tools that has always stuck with me is this – “We need to put the monkey on their backs.” Our kids need to have their own responsibilities and challenges (the monkey). We shouldn’t be catering to their needs in a way that will minimize their own ability to learn responsibility, especially while they are still under our roof and under our loving guidance.
Skip Hop Zoo Safety Harness, Monkey
Now…I’m not suggesting that you actually buy a Monkey Backpack like the picture above, (unless you need to keep your little one closer to you). But I like the visual here. You put the monkey on their back and you still have a connection to the responsibility. You are supervising and guiding them, but also allowing them some freedom as they learn to navigate life’s challenges. And the type of monkey that is placed on each child is different, dependent on age, gender, ability and family systems.
Here are some examples where I have placed the monkey on my own children:
- My second grader manages all of her own homework daily. I don’t ask her if she has done it, I don’t check her homework, she knows it is fully her responsibility to do first thing when she comes home everyday from school.
- My teenage daughter is responsible for packing all of her own bags, which consist of sometimes 3-4 bags, ranging from swim stuff, to her lap top, to her PE clothes and of course her school stuff too! I don’t check if she has everything, I don’t help her pack. She owns it. (She also thought ahead and packed an extra pair of underwear in her swim bag in case she ever forgets to pack a pair for her early morning swim practices before school.) #smartgirl
- And my son who turned 11 last month, received an I-touch for his birthday. He brought the new device on our 10-day Moroccan vacation and I didn’t ask him once if he had it. It was his responsibility to keep track of it. And guess what? He did. And if he hadn’t? Well that would have been his responsibility to look into how he might be able to replace it.
I am a firm believer that if you give small responsibilities in the early years you can continue to layer on more responsibilities as your children grow and develop each year. The more your children own in their own lives, the better you as a family will be able to maintain an organized home. If each person is doing their organizational piece of the pie, your home will hum along to a happy tune!
KISS – Look for daily opportunities to put the monkey on your child’s back!
Linked with ABFOL.
