Growing Responsibility:

Hey, Y'all!  Another part of my summer plan was to help the kids grow in responsibility.  

I wanted them to:

1. Make their beds in the morning. 
2. Set and help clear the table.
3. Clean up their toys.

Making the beds each morning was mostly a big fat fail. A can make her bed, but I didn't stay on top of that. Often she slept on the top bunk in her brother's room because C has become a noisy sleeper. (A and C share a room, and we set up bunk beds in L's room to give A an alternative place to sleep when needed. The bunk beds will eventually go in the girls' room when C is out of a crib.  A big thank you to my friend, Kate, for this awesome idea!)  Anyway, it's difficult to make the bed on a top bunk.  And I just flat out didn't tackle it like I should have with L.

We've had great success with setting and clearing the table however. They often fight over who gets to set the table, but usually at least 1 of them wants to do it. Having help clearing the table has been NICE! I love it. They each take their own dishes to the sink. Putting their dishes by the sink often means way at the other end of the counter, but that's still 1 less trip to the table I have to make.  I think A feels more grown up when she puts away the ketchup and other items that need to go into the fridge.  Of course, we praise them for being such great helpers!

Finally, they are getting better and better at putting their toys away.  Screen time is at 11:30.  Before they can have screen time, all of the messes have to be cleaned up.  A jumps to it.  L fights this a little, so I tell A to leave X, Y, and Z for him to do.  Otherwise, she has cleaned it all up by herself, and he has done nothing. This has been the best thing!  The house gets cleaned up before we have lunch and naps. More messes will be made later, but it helps keep the house under control. Also, A's room can get pretty messy during nap time. She doesn't always nap, so she'll play quietly in her room.  When it's time to get up, she has to clean up before she can come out. 

Bottom line:  I'm trying to give the kids some age appropriate responsibility and build it into our routine.

How have you helped build responsibility in your kiddos?  I would love to hear about it!