A Place

I am reading 1 Chronicles.  It can be tiresome in some parts because it lists all of these names and duties that David assigned people when he was king.  It got me thinking about how God is a God of order and how it applies to adults and children.

Having an assigned duty makes you feel like you are a part of something or a group.  Your child needs to feel like a part of the family and should have assigned duties.  The assigned duties change as your child grows.

When your child is very young, their assigned duties would be to pick up their toys, get themselves dressed, brush their teeth and clean their room. In general when they are young their first duties are to take care of themselves.  As they get older their duties would go from personal responsibility to something that involves the family as a group.  The assigned duty could be setting the table, clearing the dishes off of the table, helping bring in groceries etc
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Sometimes it is easier to do it yourself, but it isn't about your convenience, it is about teaching your child responsibility and having your child feel and be a part of the family.  After you teach your child their assigned duties it will make your life easier and give your child a sense of accomplishment and belonging.

When your child gets older you can teach them to do the dishes, take out the trash, sort the laundry etc..  When your child becomes a teenager you still need to have an assigned duty for your child; but if your child is going to school, working and doing extra curricullar activities, you may need to lessen their assigned duties.  Aunt Judy told me I should not make our teenagers chores something in which would cause turmoil and make me nag them.  So I thought and prayed about it and came to the conclusion the best chore I could get them to do is their own laundry.  I showed them how to do their laundry and then I told them what days I did my laundry and the rest was up to them.  This was nice because I did not have to nag them and if they did not do their own laundry, they were the ones that got punished for it.

When I was a teenager my mom had me cook dinner and she did the dishes.  She hated cooking and I hated doing the dishes.  It worked out great for both of us.  Make sure your child's assigned duty is something your child will like to do and do it well.  It will make it easier on both of you.

God is a God of order.  God thought that his people should have a place of belonging and assigned duties; maybe you should for your child too.

Proverbs 18:9  One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.