5 Friday Finds!!!!! Child Leadership!!

Welcome Lacey Conner back to the blog!! She is always a delight to have as a guest writer and brings so much insight to the development of kids at all ages. Thank you for this week's article.

Every child is born with a voice. The challenge for parents isn't to hand them a megaphone but to help them learn when to speak, how to listen, and how to lead. Leadership, after all, isn’t about charisma or control—it’s about the ability to inspire, adapt, and take responsibility. And believe it or not, you don’t have to wait until adolescence to begin encouraging these traits. In fact, the earlier you start modeling and nurturing leadership at home, the more naturally your child will wear it as they grow.

Let Them Make Decisions—Even the Small Ones

You may feel like you’re being helpful by planning their days down to the minute or choosing their outfit every morning, but over-structuring steals agency. One of the most effective ways to plant the seeds of leadership is to allow space for choices. When you let your child pick between red or blue socks, or decide what snack to bring on the road trip, you’re not just building confidence—you’re also teaching accountability. Even when their choice turns out to be a little inconvenient, resist the urge to swoop in and correct it.

Teach Them How to Disagree Without Defiance

Leaders don’t follow blindly, and they certainly don’t bully their way through disagreement. The middle ground is where true leadership lives. Children need to understand that pushing back against an idea doesn’t require pushing people away. When your child questions a rule or a decision, see it as an opportunity to talk through rationale and consequences. When they see that respectful disagreement leads to mutual understanding, they’ll be more inclined to use empathy instead of ego.

Model Continuous Learning

Sometimes the most powerful form of leadership is the quiet kind—the kind your child watches unfold day after day. Pursuing your own growth, especially through education, speaks volumes about perseverance, vision, and grit. When you take on something like advanced practice preparation with an MSN, you’re modeling ambition with purpose. Earning a graduate degree online not only shows your child that learning never stops—it also allows you to balance family life while preparing for a career in nurse education, informatics, leadership, or advanced clinical roles.

Encourage Group Play—But Don’t Choreograph It

It’s tempting to hover when your child is in a group setting, especially if you sense friction brewing. But part of leadership is learning how to read a room, mediate between friends, and make group decisions. Instead of interfering, observe how your child adapts to group dynamics. When they come home from a playdate frustrated or proud, talk it through. Help them name what happened, identify what worked or didn’t, and reflect on how they might approach similar situations in the future.

Assign Real Responsibilities—Not Just Chores

There’s a big difference between being told to clean their room and being entrusted with preparing snacks for their younger sibling. Responsibilities tied to trust and care build an internal sense of leadership more than mundane tasks ever could. Let your child lead a family tradition, or take charge of a weekend project. When kids realize they’re trusted to contribute in meaningful ways, they begin to see themselves as capable, valued parts of the team.

Help Them Understand That Leadership is Service

Here’s the most important thing: leadership isn’t about being the loudest voice in the room. It’s about making space for others, seeing the bigger picture, and lifting the whole group. Children should be taught that leaders care deeply—not just about goals, but about people. Volunteer as a family, talk about fairness and justice, and encourage your child to stand up not only for themselves but for those who can’t. When leadership is rooted in service, it lasts.

If you focus only on assertiveness, performance, and ambition, you’ll raise a child who knows how to command—but not how to lead. Leadership is less about managing people and more about managing oneself in relation to others. It thrives in homes where children are heard, trusted, challenged, and loved without condition. So the next time your child interrupts dinner with a wildly impractical idea or organizes a tea party with very strict rules, pause before correcting. You might be witnessing the first flickers of something extraordinary.

Discover more by Lacey Conner at https://familywellnesspro.com/

Discover the twins' 5 finds this week below.....

1. A smart dad asks his wife and twins if they are hungry before making himself a snack. A wise dad makes twice as much even when they all say ‘no!!’

2. Warning: Summer break is now dangerously close. Start conserving your patience and sanity now!!

3. You have no kids: It’s 6:30 PM. You don’t know what you’re doing for dinner but there’s excitement in the air. Will you cook? Will you go out? You don’t know, but the world’s your oyster.

   You have Twins. It’s 3:45 PM. You don’t know what you’re doing for dinner yet. Fear sets in!!

4. Friend: What are you doing for summer this year? Me: Ensuring I go on lots of “work” trips away from home!!

5.  As a father I can tell you where to find absolutely anything in this entire house. Except for anything that is mine!!