What is the Vew From Your Child's Eyes?

Yesterday my 13 year old daughter , Aly came to me and asked me if she could write something for the blog. I said, "sure" and about a 1/2 hour later she handed me a one page paper titled In the eyes of an Accountable Kid. It was interesting for me to see my teens outlook on chores and responsibility because some days I am wondering where my happy, sweet child went. She has hit the age where I am no longer "cool". How did that happen? She now rolls her eyes at me and when I tell her something she says, "I know mom" and finishes off with an exasperated look. I often wonder if anything I am saying or doing is touching her heart. Now don't get me wrong, Aly is a great kid and she has a heart of gold, but some days her hormones are overriding her brain.

This blog entry she wrote reminded me that deep down she has learned valuable lessons about life, family, and character. There will be days, maybe years, where she may hide beneath the "teen facade" but a foundation has been established for her build her future. Our family isn't perfect. My kids whine, complain, and leave their dishes on the counter waiting for the maid (like we have one) to clean up after them. But, Accountable Kids has given us some consistency amongst the chaos. Aly's letter reminded me that she is paying attention to what we have been teaching her and she is seeing the good in the organizational system in our home.

The other thing that Aly's blog brought to mind is the power of sitting down and writing out your thoughts. So often our kids send text messages or quick e-mails. They are not encouraged to ponder and map out their thoughts and then write them down for all to see. It made me realize the power of concentrated thought and expression. Have you ever asked your kids what they thought of Accountable Kids? What is the value of all of this to them. Are they learning anything that will help them in the future. What is the view from your child's eyes?

In the Eyes of an Accountable Kid

When you read Happy kids, Proud parents, Strong families, do you ever wonder or doubt.  “How can my kids like doing chores or even do them with a happy heart.” I am an accountable kid and have been using the Accountable Kids program for about nine years and I know that I do like to do my chores now because they’re not chores they are responsibilities that we get entrusted with. Lots of kids now are lazy.  Typically we don’t want to do any chores because we don’t think they benefit us in any way, but after using Accountable Kids for so long I know different.  I can see now when our chores are done it does benefit us.  It makes life easier for our parents because when the house is clean they tend to be a little less stressed and don’t nag us.  It makes life easier for us because we have a positive attitude when our parents aren’t stressed or nagging us.  It gives us more time to spend as a family because we aren’t cleaning all the time because when we do our chores the house stays cleaner and we aren’t angry with each. We all get more done on a daily basis.  Our pets are happier when we have more time to spend with them.  We also get key tools that we need to be able to live on our own and work jobs. Kids grow up and use many of the same parenting tools that their parents used especially if they were good parents.  We get our foundation for life from our parents.  We learn in our years at home many things that affect our character traits. I know that now, and later I will be able to cherish and grow from my experience from living with my parents.  I know that now, and later I will be thanking them with my words, thoughts, actions and one day hopefully my children.