Have You Trained Your Kids To Work? What Will They Do When A SHTF Happens?
Kids are natural helpers. Especially when they are younger and they want to “help” with everything. Many parents take advantage of that help and let the kids help them. That is the start of training your kids to be good helpers and workers around the house and the yard.
Doing chores and being expected to help inside and outside the house helps develop skills. Kids become contributing members of the household which helps lighten the load for the parents. Kids who are expected to help and do chores learn a better work ethic and become valuable members of the workforce and society after leaving home. They also learn responsibility and manage their home and work lives better.
However, some parents believe “that kids should be kids.” They have no chores, no responsibilities beyond school, and no expectations besides getting good grades and being a good person. They are coddled and spoiled. They do not learn responsibility beyond school. They do not learn skills or accountability. The parents do everything for them.
What is going to happen to those households when the SHTF happens?
They are going to self-implode. The parents will be doing everything they can to survive and their dependent children will not know what to do. Instead of pitching in and helping to clean the mess or secure food and water, they will want to know why they can’t eat right now! Instead of making the situation better or at least tolerable, they will be in a tizzy because their cellphones and smart devices are not entertaining them!
We would all like to believe that kids will naturally just step in and help because the need has arisen. We would like to believe that they will instinctively know that they are needed and rise to the occasion. Some kids will do this, I am sure. However, in this day and age, I do not believe that most will do anything. That would be work, and they know nothing of work.
We are seeing a rise in an entitled, selfish culture that is being fostered by parents who believe that their precious darlings should have and do whatever they want. They are overly involved at school, not involved at all, or considered special because they are really smart. Then, they go to college and think they are special because they are enlightened with their college education. As a result, they get degrees in areas that will not really transfer into a career that will support them. And, for some reason, they get some really crazy ideas about life while they are in college.
Can you imagine what will happen when an SHTF happens to them?
I am not saying all kids and young adults are like this, but I see an alarming trend. This trend says these kids do not know any life skills, were taught very little responsibility, and would not survive when an SHTF happens. They will expect and demand that someone else takes care of them and this situation. They will be crazy when they find out no help may be on the way.
That is why kids need to be trained to work. This training starts early when they want to “help.” You are teaching them early that their help is a valuable contribution to the household. When they get a little older, daily and weekly chores teach them responsibility and accountability. When they are preteens, they should be expected to help whenever asked, in addition to their regular chores. By the time they are teenagers, they know what needs to be done inside and outside the home.
You are teaching your kids to work. You are teaching them to be valuable, contributing members of the family. Kids are not perfect. They may need reminders and lists about what needs to be done. You will have to teach them what to do and how to do it. There is always going to be a right way and a wrong way to do things. You will have to teach them safety. You will have to teach them the skills they need to know like cooking, gardening, keeping a home, and taking care of animals.
However, when an SHTF happens, the kids will know that they are expected to help you. They may not know exactly what to do, but they know to listen to you and take your direction. When you ask them to grab a broom or shovel to clean up the mess, they will do it. When you tell them to cook supper, they will do it.
Should kids still have fun? You bet, but you are teaching them that life is about getting the necessary things done so they can have fun. Parents should not be shouldering the burden by themselves. Kids need to learn that they live under their parents’ roof and help take care of the house. Sometimes they will argue and whine, but you as parents need to be firm, insist on the chore being done right, and not be afraid to give consequences if not done.
You are raising adults. They may be kids now, but they will be adults that the rest of the world will have to deal with later. Just like they need to be trained to work now, they will be ready to work later as adults because they know that is expected of them. So whether they are living at home or on their own, when an SHTF hits, they will be ready to help in any way they can and they can take care of themselves.
Thanks for reading,
Erica