When it comes to setting your kids up for success, the earlier the better. The sooner you can start teaching your kids critical life teachings that will help them from now to their adult years, the more you’ll improve their long-term well-being. Take a look at some of the most important life skills that you should start teaching your kids as early on as possible.
Cleaning Up After Themselves
Let’s face it, hiring a professional housecleaner is much easier than having to chase after your kids to clean their messes. However, there’s no guarantee that they’ll have a housecleaner of their own when they’re older. Your children should learn how to pick up after themselves, without expecting someone else to do it for them.
Picking up after yourself is an important part of being accountable for your actions, and cleaning up your own messes. The best way to get started is by giving them chores that are appropriate for their age group. For example, you’re not going to ask a 2-year-old to vacuum the house.
However, you can start teaching them early on how to put their toys into the appropriate baskets, or put their clothes in the dirty clothes hamper rather than on the floor. Don’t make the mistake of thinking they’re too young to clean up after themselves. You’d be surprised how capable kids are of cleaning up even as young as one year old!
Decision-Making
One of the best ways that you can empower your little ones and teach them to succeed in life is to give them the power of choice. Throughout the day, present them with scenarios that require them to make a decision. Whether it’s choosing the blue socks or the red socks or deciding what they want to have for a snack, choices give them the gift of weighing out positive and negative outcomes and making decisions based on their predictions.
Hygiene
It’s no secret that little kids aren’t always the cleanest humans on earth. However, the sooner we can teach them to practice basic hygiene habits, the more they’ll benefit from it long term. Rather than simply telling them to brush their teeth, or take a bath— explain to them why it’s important.
Clearly lay out the role that hygiene plays in our lives, and what will happen if we fail to clean our bodies. The more that you can provide a reason behind what you’re asking them to do, the more motivated they’ll be to do it.
Over time, they will start to appreciate the difference that they feel when they’re clean as opposed to when their teeth are unbrushed and they haven’t showered.