With a household of rambunctious kids, do you ever feel like you’re living in a zoo?

Zookeepers have a lot to do to keep their animals happy: they feed them, clean up after them, and protect them from harm. That’s also a pretty accurate description of a parent’s job—up to a certain point. But if we keep sheltering our kids, without ever giving them more control of their lives, we’re not preparing them for life in the jungle. In fact, we’re setting them up for failure.

So start during her pre-teen years, and every month, introduce a small area of responsibility into her life. By the time she reaches adulthood, she’ll be ready to leave the confines of the zoo, and face the challenges of the jungle!

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