Kids like it when their work is noticed.
Kids like it when their work is critiqued.
Kids like to be judged.
Especially younger kids.
Don’t believe me?
This is a lesson I’ve had to learn the hard way.
Anytime you give your kids a task, take 30 seconds to inspect what they’ve done and give it a judgment.
“Hmmm…on a scale of 1-10 I’d give this about a 6. Now let me tell you what a 10 would look like. Do you want to try and hit a 10?”
We all like our work to be noticed.
When people don’t notice whether our work is good or bad our work tends to get worse.
And kids, especially young ones, know they are a ball of raw potential that needs to be refined.
When our kids do chores or projects I try to do something called “Daddy Check-In” where they show me their work and I give it a judgment.
I struggle to keep up with this, and when I don’t the quality of their work suffers.
It’s so important to investigate and give real feedback to our kids.
Yes, we need to encourage them but we also need to tell them the truth.
Their ability to improve depends on it.
Jeremy
P.S. This reminds me of this convo I had with Jeff called “Stop Trying to Fair to Your Kids”.
This entry is a part of Jeremy’s Journal, a newsletter Jeremy sends out every Wednesday morning to encourage you on your parenting journey. You can sign up to get them every Wednesday here.
