The Daily Dad

Teach Them to Choose

Dec 3, 2019

02:33

Snipd AI

Explore the importance of empowering kids to make their own choices and the benefits of allowing them to learn from their decisions.

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Quick takeaways

Fathers should actively involve their children in decision-making processes to develop their crucial skill of decision-making.

By empowering children to make decisions and learn from their experiences, fathers prepare them for the challenges of life.

Deep dives

Teaching Kids to Make Decisions

As parents, it is natural to make most decisions for our children since we have more knowledge and experience. However, this can prevent them from developing the crucial skill of decision-making. Many teenagers struggle with making important decisions because they have never had the opportunity to practice. It is important for fathers to actively involve their children in decision-making processes, such as asking them what activities they want to do or what movie to watch, and allowing them to experience the consequences of their choices. By empowering children to make decisions, even if they make mistakes, fathers can teach them the invaluable skill of decision-making and prepare them for the challenges of life.

Teach Them to Choose

2min

It makes sense that you and mom would make most of the decisions for your kids. You guys know more. Your kids basically know nothing. About life. About what the weather is going to be tomorrow. How the world works. You, on the other hand, have been 7 as well as 17-years-old before.

Not only does that give you a lot more experience, but it’s also pretty obvious that most decisions don’t matter. You’ve got places to go and more important things to worry about, so you pick their clothes out to be done with it—to move things along.

The problem with this is that you’re depriving your kids of a very important skill: The ability to make decisions. Is it any wonder than so many teenagers are utterly overwhelmed when it comes to choosing where to go to college? Or what to major in? For most of them, it’s the first real decision they’ve made in their lives.

That’s why, as a Dad, you have to actively work to not choose everything for them. Ask them whether they want to go to the park or play catch in the yard. Ask them what movie they want to see. What should we cook for dinner? Do you want to take a shower tonight or a bath? Would you rather go out for the baseball or the basketball team? If you don’t like mowing the lawn, what’s another chore you’d like to do to contribute around the house? Shorts or pants today? Go pick out something to wear.

Teach them how to choose. Empower them. Make sure they know how to decide, and to be OK with it, even if they decide wrong. It doesn’t matter that you know more. Let them learn. Life is decisions. Prepare them for it.

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