Teach 'Em How to Fish

"If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime." -author unknown

I've been thinking about this quote today except my version looks more like this:

"If you put your son's shoes on for him, he's set for the day. If you teach your son to put on his own shoes, you'll be set for life." -Jamie

Ok, not quite as poetic as it was in my head but I think you get my point.

It has suddenly snuck up on me that my 5 year son is having me do all of these things for him that he really should be doing himself. I try really hard to make my kids be fairly independent. But somehow in the hustle and bustle of life, I've hiccuped somewhere.

I know what it is. My girls, as most girls are, were very independent and wanted to do all sorts of things for themselves. I wasn't allowed to help them. My son has flown under the radar and allowed me to still do as much as I was willing to do for him.

Just recently, though, I've woke up and thought "Hey, you're 5, kid. You should be brushing your own teeth and putting on your own shoes."

Especially as we prepare to send him off to Kindergarten in the fall, we need to teach him how to be more independent. It really is what is best for him - and me! With the arrival of baby #5, I am not going to have as much time.

So now the hard part comes. Instead of taking 30 seconds and putting on his shoes for him, I will have to take 10 minutes to convince him to put them on himself followed by another 10 minutes of watching him struggle to put them on (and we're talking velcro here, folks). But eventually he'll become a pro and we won't even remember these shoe struggles.

As long as I'm thinking about it, I think there are things that my girls can definitely start doing for themselves that I have been doing for them, too (like helping with dishes and laundry and cleaning).

It's time to teach them all how to fish.

The more independent they are, the more time I will have for other things - like changing diapers and rubbing orajel on teething gums and kissing sweet little baby toes.

There really is nothing wrong with teaching your little one at any age to be more independent. From the time they can walk, they can "help" fetch their shoes (or diapers) and pick up their toys. Taking a little time today will save you lots of time in the future.

So, if we're even later than usual to church the next few weeks, you'll know the reason why. :)