We Must Have Structure!

This is my new homework to start creating a structured environment for our family so that it will be firmly in place when J comes home in a few months. Sounds easy enough doesn't it? Ya right I am just glad I have a few months to practice and get B & B on board so that it will be easier to impose on J upon coming home. One way to think of it when your kids start approaching their teenage years is that you are your kids 1st employer and this is their first job. As with any job there are responsibilities that aren't optional and take 1st priority. Those responsibilities should be centered around the functionality/upkeep of the common living spaces in your home. The paycheck can come in many forms...their cell phone, privileges, getting to do things with friends. But here is the KEY you have to stick to the ground rules that you lay out not leaving room for negotiations when responsibilities are skipped or not done all the way.

I thought this was a good analogy and as my counselor put it, "This way you are training your kids to be responsible and to work as part of a team preparing them for adulthood and being a good employee when they grow up. Teaching them also that you have to take care of your responsibilities and get your work done in order to have privileges your not just entitled to them."