Earn the Right to be Out

Everything that is outside your child’s funnel should be a freedom your child has EARNED! What does this mean? For this behavior, your child has consistently shown you that s/he can do the right thing without parental intervention.

Step 1: Your child is doing a great job taking positive ownership of a certain behavior.
Step 2: You give him/her freedom by removing or opening the boundary (fence) that was in place.

Once your kids start to enjoy the freedom of being out of the corral in regards to a certain behavior, they will want to earn the same freedom with other behaviors.

Take stock of each of your kids and see if they have earned freedoms you haven’t given them. Do you still tell your 7 yr. old to make her bed even though most of the time she has already done it before she comes down to breakfast? Talk it over with your spouse and see if you can open those fences in certain behaviors. Your kids will reward you with joy.