Five Valuable Traits a Child Can Learn from Working Parents

Responsibility

Being consistently employed and engaged in our work demonstrates an essential life skill to our children: responsibility. Duty and responsibility are implicated in every aspect of human life, from work and family to spirituality and community. Responsibility’s sister traits include punctuality and perseverance, both of which are transferable to all areas of our children’s future lives.

Loyalty

Living successfully and happily requires loyalty and commitment. Many of our relationships expect loyalty from us: employers, business partners, and even family members. Loyalty is a measure of respect given to those we care about and those with whom we are interdependent.

Work-Life Balance

Have you ever heard the phrase “work hard, play harder”? Our kids watch what we do every day. If we work responsibly but take out time to spend with our families and recharge, we set a good example for our kids.

Money Management

Those of us who work sometimes feel that we are doing our children a disservice. Sure, we bring home a paycheck that benefits our children, but we may miss their activities and other aspects of their daily lives.  This can be especially true in two-earner families. But in addition to greater financial security, our jobs provide opportunities for our children to learn many other life skills that they can use throughout their lives.

Human Nature

When we talk about our jobs and the people we work with, our kids learn a lot about human relationships and coping skills. Many days, there are teachable moments in which we can use our work experiences to model life skills such as successful communication and conflict resolution.

Most of us spend the bulk of our waking hours at work. We can use these experiences to help our children learn valuable skills which can be translated to many areas of their lives. Of course, our children naturally want to emulate us so if we do not deal well with work experiences, our children can learn negative skills from us. That’s why it is critical to recognize the effect our actions and behaviors have on our kids and use these as opportunities to help them build tools for successful futures.