>>18071674It's awesome. Your job is to be gentle, firm and unyielding. Have a reason for their rules and an explanation of the benefit to them. They won't like them, but will understand when they the repercussions being the exact thing you warned of.
Be ready to watch them struggle and fail and resist stepping in to fix it. Stand them back up, give some advice, and encourage them to get back at it. It's hard watching them struggle, but triumph after failure is the most powerful motivator you can give them.
When they want to help, let them. It starts very early, and the window is narrow. At first, you can give busy work, but they figure that out quick. Young kids want to help in a concrete way. Let them, teach them. Things will break, be done incorrectly, and it will take six times as long. It will drive you fucking crazy. Talk them through it, fix the issues, and keep letting them help. The days are long, but the years are short, and one day you'll wake up and have confident, eerily self-sufficient kids. As soon as I grab my tool box, my boys (3 and 7) come out to help with whatever I'm working on. Daughter (9) apparates in the kitchen the second wife or I grab a pot. They help care for the home with minimal complaint. 7 year old son has his own toolset and brings it to his grandmother's house in case she needs anything fixed. They still have trouble getting their dishes to the sink, but no one's perfect.
People complain that their kids are lazy and unhelpful, but all they were ever taught them is that their help is unwanted and valueless. You are a god to your children, so be a kind one. They won't understand until they're older that you're only a person, but by then your voice has already become theirs internally.
It's a lot like farming. Give your kids some soil, space for their roots to spread, and some wind to strengthen them. They become so much more than the sum of your effort.
