do you want your kid to grow taller?

 Do you want your children to grow up successfully? Let them do their homework. If they refuse (and believe me: they probably will), you can tell them that research supports you.

Sounds good, and it is, but there is a downside. (We'll come back to that later). Let's start with the science.

Do you want your kid to grow taller? We cover it here

In the longest Harvard Grant study in history (it lasted 75 years, from 1938 to the present), researchers found that people need two things to be happy and successful.

The first? Love.

So what's the best way to develop a work ethic among young people? In the experience of the 724 dignitaries surveyed (including future President John F. Kennedy and Washington Post columnist Ben Bradley), there is a consensus.

(Additional content. I invite you to download my free e-book, How to Parent Successfully (7th Edition), for important best practice information and parenting tips).

"[Research] shows that the professional success we want our children to achieve in life ......., depends on what they achieve in childhood," said Julie Lythcott-Haims, a former first-year dean at Stanford University, in a 2016 TED talk.

"The earlier you start," Ms. Lythcott-Haims continued, "the better. (You can watch his full TED talk here). [This mentality says that someone has to do the dirty work, and it's not as good as mine .......]. That's what keeps you going.

The second? A work ethic.

That's the other side of the coin. Putting your kids in charge of chores doesn't necessarily absolve you of parental responsibility. My colleague Valerie Williams recently made this point memorably and succinctly in Scary Mommy.

    Well done, Mrs. Investigator, that does make sense. It makes sense. But you know what we expose our kids to every day?

    I can say that today was a victory because both of my kids brushed their teeth as I asked them to and because they didn't kill themselves on the fifth day of vacation this week. When I asked them to do chores, they complied, but they complained. And they are terrible at their jobs. No mother has time to make noise .... Did you see the results when the kids swept the floor?"

Yes, it's harder than it may seem at first glance. However - and this is an analogy I probably won't repeat - it reminds me of what I wrote about when the military was fighting the insurgency and the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Even if you can do it well, sometimes you have to delegate it to others if you want them to learn from the experience. Whether it's U.S. soldiers training Iraqi soldiers or parents asking their children to wash dishes, the principles are the same.

Because, as Lythcott-Haims told Tech Insider, ". When they do chores - take out the trash, do the laundry - they understand that I have to do the work of life to be a part of it. It's not just about me and what I need right now."

As a reminder, the free e-book is called How to Raise Successful Kids (7th Edition). To learn more about the baby sleep miracle review. You can download it here.