Making Your Child Responsible!

  "Mom, please bring me my...
                    lunch!"
                    lunch money!"
                    homework!"
                    science project!"
                    soccer cleats!"

  "Dad, I need...
                    money for my library fine!"
                    the absence excuse I left in your car!"
                    a ride back to school. I forgot my books!"
                    you to finish my math. I can't make another
                         bad grade!"

     Do these requests (demands) sound familiar?   Do you grant them?   If so, stop now!   If not, good for you!   It is easy to fall into the trap of.. "I'll do it just this once!" or "I can't let her fail after she's worked so hard!" or "It's easier to do what he asks than to say no!"

     Parents who continually rescue a child make a serious mistake.   They send signals that the child is incapable of successfully managing his life.   In addition, parents feel anger and resentment toward the dependent child and communicate this frustration through complaining, nagging, preaching, etc.   The gains that a dependent child makes are not his own!   Someday the parent won't be there to rescue him, and the child will not be prepared for reality!   Allow your child to become an independent, responsible person.