10 basic life skills to teach your child
Have you ever noticed that parents who grew up poor or who had life especially hard, do their utmost to ensure their own children never have to work as hard as they did?
This is admirable but unfortunately many times they go
to another extreme and have their kids so dependent on them they end up being
unable to fend for themselves in a crisis.
However, there will come a day when there is no one
around to help and they figure it out. Being dependent on others is rarely good
thing so equip them adequately. The below list represents some basic life skills
you should teach your children by the time they become teenagers.
1. Preparing
basic meals: They do not have to be a top chef but they should be able to
feed themselves without another’s input.
2. Take public transportation:
You may not always be able to pick them up after school or an extracurricular
activity so they should know the way home and the number bus that runs along
that route.
3. Doing basic
chores: Any individual who cannot wash their own plate or underwear is not
equipped to go out into the world on their own. Teach them how to survive as
well as thrive.
4. Be self-motivated:
This goes from waking themselves up for school to studying without someone
standing over you with a big stick.
5. Making goals
and working towards them: There should be some direction in their lives.
Just hanging around is not going to cut it.
6. Grocery shopping:
They should be able to go out and read the packages on the shelves, compare
prices, nutritional information and make decisions on what is needed and how
much for how long a period.
7. How to do a
basic budget: Money management, especially in these times, is key. They
need to learn to overlook trinkets and gadgetry and prioritise on what s
important.
8. Learn how to
dress for different occasions: If your child does not know what to wear for
an interview versus what to wear to the mall, something is wrong. Teach them
from early what is appropriate for each event, how to colour coordinate and
always be presentable when out and about.
9. Basic
etiquette: We call it ‘home training’ when you know how to use a knife and
fork, where the glass goes and where to place your napkin. It can be embarrassing
when you see grown folks struggling to fit in at formal occasions or when they
tuck their napkins into their collar as if they are at a crab fest!
10. Good
manners: Saying please and thanks and cover your mouth when you cough or
sneeze was being done long before COVID! In fact, it should start from as early
as they begin to talk. That way they are socialised and it becomes as automatic
as breathing.