We want to help our children form good habits. If you begin certain tasks when your children are toddlers, these tasks become routine. In an earlier post, I used the example of having your child enter the house, sit down, take off and line up their shoes. If you do this every time, soon your children will sit down and complete the task by themselves.
You can do the same with their jacket by showing them that you place it in the closet or on a coat rack. They can learn to hang up their coat on the knob of the closet door until they are tall enough to hang it up themselves. Same goes if you let them take it off and drop it on the floor. This will become their habit and it is much more difficult to break a bad habit once it is started.
It is a good idea to have them routinely wash their hands "with soap" after using the bathroom; this will put your mind at ease when they need to use a public restroom. Another good habit is to wash hands when you enter the house. Whether you have been to a store or they have been playing outside. These are two very important hygiene rules that can help prevent illness. When my children were young I kept baby wipes in my car to wipe our hands when we returned to the car after being in a store. If you have ever seen the tests done on shopping carts and public areas; you will understand why we had this routine. I didn't want them to put their hands in their mouth or on there faces or eyes after being out somewhere without cleaning them first. Keeping a package of baby wipes in my vehicle came in handy many times over the years.
Your favorite sentence should be "This is what we do." It's not a question or a choice, it is just how we do things. Then these tasks become their "Good Habits." They will just follow the expectation.
If you have them place their homework in their backpack as soon as they have finished. And this is what you do consistently over a period of time; this will become the regular practice. These kinds of habits help children to become organized. They need to be responsible for their own backpack as well. They will adapt to carrying it and will most likely be more aware if they do not have it when they should have it with them. These behaviors eliminate the last minute hassle of tracking down items in the morning. It's wonderful to have a calm, less hectic send off in the morning before you part ways for the day.
Brushing teeth twice per day should be started when children are about 18 months old. In the beginning you brush with water, later they are able to use toothpaste. But they need to be supervised until this is a habit. When they are a little older, right around 10 to 12 years old, have them show you their teeth after brushing. It's time to verify that they are doing as they are told. So many children do not actually brush their teeth. I have heard children talking about just wetting their tooth brush and saying they brushed. Later, when you are paying thousands of dollars for braces you want your children to have already established good dental hygiene.
After they change into their pajamas have them take their dirty clothes to the hamper. If you do this from the time they are a toddler, this is what they think is the norm. This will be their habit. If you wait until they are five, seven or nine years old and they have always left them on their floor for you to pick up; you are then trying to break a bad habit. This takes more effort and you will meet more resistance.
My son was given an alarm clock for Christmas prior to starting first grade. From the beginning of school he woke up to his own alarm. This habit was important to me because when I was growing up, my mom chose to be our alarm clock. I would never get right out of bed; she would make several trips to my room to ask me to get up. Every day I would be running to catch my school bus. So for years and years I was late for everything. I was terrible at time management and every morning was harrowing. It was an awful way to start every day! I was determined that this would not be my children's bad habit. My children thought nothing of waking up to an alarm; this was to them the norm.
My children came out to the kitchen dressed for school. I had my daughter choose her clothes the night before to avoid delay in the morning. Their backpacks were all set; I just needed to add their lunch. They ate breakfast, brushed teeth and were ready to leave for school. I never allowed them to get in the habit of putting on the TV or bringing out toys. Once distracted, it is much harder to get them back on task. If you allow only the time necessary and make a routine, they should not have a problem being on time. My children were never tardy for school.
All of these tasks that I am mentioning take a matter of minutes per day but can be great habits of a lifetime. They need to know your expectations and be taught the tools to meet those expectations. Small children are eager to please, like to help, and can create good habits early with the right direction from you. It may take longer in the beginning because learning is a process but it will eliminate many hours of arguments in the long run. If you choose to wait and not have them do these small tasks; I guarantee you, you will meet plenty of resistance as they get older. Since they were never expected to do it before, why would they want to start doing the right thing now.
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