It worked!

I recently finished reading Childwise. As my children venture into a new age bracket, one way I keep up is reading the appropriate book from the Wise series. Childwise covers ages 3-7 and provided me many ideas to help shape the hearts of children to help foster the characteristics we would like to see in our children.

Principle #12 in the book really hit home. It states that constantly reminding a child to do what is expected only means you have no expectation.

As I read, I couldn't help but think about all the reminders we give Carter prior to coming to the table each time he eats. By now, I thought he knew what to do but was relying on us. So I put the practices into place right away. I began by using the phrase, "you have the freedom to come to the table when you use the restroom and wash your hands." I used the phrase for each meal for two days and then wanted to see if he was ready to take responsibility for this behavior. Prior to dinner, I asked Carter if he had the freedom to come to dinner. He said, "No, I haven't gone to the restroom or washed my hands." And then, he went and did both tasks. I couldn't have been more proud. This carried over to him taking his shoes off at the door without reminders and cleaning up his toys.

Carter is excited to show his responsibility so we have added this virtue to his chart and he is doing great!