That’s my son drying out his laundry. He does his own laundry and so does my daughter. I have made a conscious decision to make them do this early on along with many other chores as these are things that can teach them stuff which can’t be taught and they might not learn otherwise. Things like:
Patience:
You know, in this fast paced world of instant gratification, kids are losing out on this much needed virtue, patience. Doing something that is boring and that does not excite them, is not something kids like to do but that doesn’t mean they can get away without doing it. Life isn’t that way. Teaching them that no matter how boring or hard it gets you need to do it. Getting it done is the only way you will you have clean clothes to wear the next day. They have to understand that and that understanding will come only by doing it.
Perseverance:
Teaching perseverance; is there anything more complicated than that? How do you teach that? Is there a course to accomplish that?
Making them do simple repetitive chores like these will instil that and it is also meditative in the sense that it helps calm our kid’s ever busy minds and bodies. It helps them slow down and concentrate on the work at hand, teaching them the unhurried ways of life.
Appreciation for hard work:
Nowadays, where do kids have any opportunity to do any kind of manual work at all? We have appliances for everything and our better economic status has ensured that we can hire help for all our needs. Where does that leave our kids? Growing up with an entitled mind-set and lacking basic human values needed for respecting hard work.
Dignity of labour:
If not by doing dishes or doing your laundry, sweeping or mopping, how else can we instil this value. If our kids only get to see house maids doing these chores and get the idea that we are somehow superior to these helpers we are able to hire, how are they ever going to appreciate dignity of labour.
I think we parents have landed here due to the mind frame that we somehow thought whatever chores we were made to do as a child (that we didn’t enjoy) we wouldn’t make our kids do. By doing that, we feel elated in some way; that probably we are being better parents than our own parents. But, please let’s understand that those chores gave us the skills that helped us at every stage of our life and those were the chores that kept us humble and those were the chores that kept us disciplined and those very chores taught us dignity of labour.
Why are more and more kids reported to be suffering from depression and resorting to suicide? Mobile addiction, social media addiction, falling prey to killer games like blue whale and what not…
Why is human race failing so miserably?
Where are we going wrong?
Why despite providing everything our parents weren’t able to provide us, our kids are not content or half as happy as we were?
Why in spite of great awareness and conscious parenting, we are failing as parents?
Definitely the current generation of parents are far more educated than our generation or the generation before…then where are we lacking? What’s the missing link?
By providing excess stimulation (anything in excess is always bad) to young minds with television, mobiles, computers and all such gadgets, we are disabling their faculties to have a clear thought process and to make an informed decision. If they don’t see success immediately; if they don’t see the results instantly, they get frustrated. You can see them getting irritable, angry and lashing out at even minor set-backs. And that’s not good news.
It’s just my opinion that probably we need to rethink our parenting style. Take a cue from our previous generations and understand why we were highly motivated to aim higher, achieve bigger dreams and why that drive is lacking in our kids.
Rethink, what gave us satisfaction? What gave us a sense of accomplishment? What gave us happiness? What made us grateful? What made us practice gratitude? What made us believe in prayers and goodwill? What gave us hope?
Now, let’s give that to our children.
Don’t buy them things. Give them experiences.
