If you have a large family and you are having a hard time taking care of your younger children, you can always lean back and let your older children help you in looking after your little ones. After all, older siblings are the next responsible ones after the parents.
Even though they might not say it, older children tend to have a feeling that they want to nurture, teach, and instill lessons to their younger siblings. In fact, most older children might agree to this.
Your younger children also look up to their older children, especially when they idolize them via the way they talk, behave, or do things on their own, and this is a huge factor for your little ones.
The responsibility of being a good role model is mostly a parent's job, but parents should know that it's okay to encourage their older children the desire of being role models to their younger siblings.
Most of the time, its the siblings who spend most of their time together, since parents often have day jobs. Since your older children are mostly together with their siblings, it may not be hard for you to train them to be responsible, older siblings to them.
If you don't know where to start, here are some effective tips and easy-to-do strategies that you can do in teaching your older children to be responsible and mature role models towards their younger siblings.
Be a good role model first before them
Since they are the older siblings, they also need someone they can look up to, and that's their parents. Therapists and family experts have confirmed through various research and studies that the most effective way to teach older children how to be responsible and mature role models towards their younger siblings is to be a great role model parents to them.
Children tend to learn more from watching their parent's actions and behavior rather than the lessons you give them verbally. Given the statement "action speaks louder than words," parents should be aware enough of their gestures, attitudes, and language when they are around their children. Because this will greatly affect their development.
If you want to teach your older children the virtue of patience when it comes to looking after the younger ones, you as a parent need to be subtle and patient with them as well. Offer the same behavior to them and they will see how much patience one should have in looking after younger children. The same thing goes when you offer help when it's needed, praising them in small achievements and giving them encouragement from time to time.
Surround your older children with good role models
Children do not only look up to their parents. It may be a close relative, an aunt or an uncle, or an older cousin who helped take care of them as they grew up. Although parents are the main role models in a child's life, they also have different people who surround them every day, especially when they are not in the house.
They have friends, teachers, neighbors, relatives, and people they know in town that can be an influence on them as well. It is important for parents to know who their children are associating with, what they are like and what attitude and behavior do they instill that can be a huge impact on your children as role models to their younger siblings.
You may opt to ask your older children to bring their friends over for dinner for you to get a glimpse of what type of people are your children meddling with.
Explain what a good role model means
It is best to open a topic to your children about good role modeling and make a healthy conversation about it when you can. Everyone has a different understanding of being a role model, and if you want your older children to understand the same meaning as you have in mind, have that talk with them and help them figure out what type of relationship do they want to have between them and their younger siblings. Clarity will always help sort things out.
