Dear Dr. Allen: Give the kid a chore.
Pack 275 Cub Scout Brayden Krueger finishes work on his Memorial Day sidewalk chalk tribute to fallen service men and women. We know the world is a challenging place and because of this, we often want to protect our kids from stress and disappointment. However, in our desire to provide a safe, comfortable family life, we can actually be impairing our kids’ abilities to function independently and with confidence. Here are some important things to consider when your goal is a healthy 24 year old (even though your child may be 6 or 12 or 17 now). Encourage self-reflection. Your child/teen will have the ability to stop and listen within himself or herself to thoughts, ideas and options for whatever situation they are facing. To do this, we need to allow them the space to brainstorm and identify the different options to challenges they are now facing. Whatever your kid/teen can now do for themselves allow them to do it. This includes how to tie my own shoes, remembering to take my lunch or homework to school, figuring out how to deal with a peer/social challenge, communicating with another significant adult (such as a teacher, coach, relative, family friend), managing time, being…
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