10 Life Skills Your Teen Needs Before
Leaving Home
By Nancy
Jergins
Nancy Jergins has written about
relationship and family issues for more than 15 years, and does her best to
enlighten and encourage others with her words.
When my firstborn turned 18, it
caused me to question: Did I do what I set out to do? Is she ready for college,
work, marriage, and children? Can she take care of herself, pay bills, look
both ways when she crosses the street?
It really didn’t seem possible… 18
years old, graduation in three months, gone in five. My heart was breaking and
yet when I looked at her, I was so excited for her. I may not have accomplished
everything I set out to do, but she had become more than I could have dreamed.
If your child is preparing for college, get a head start by making sure you
address these 10 life skills your teen needs before they leave home.
1. Basic cooking skills. Make sure
your child can prepare a few simple, healthy, economical dishes and understands
how the high cost of dining out can destroy a budget and a waistline.
2. Budgeting and money management
skills. Make sure your child knows how to live within a budget, and understands
the pitfalls of using credit irresponsibly.
3. Personal healthcare knowledge. Ensure
that your child knows how to self-diagnose simple illnesses, knows how to check
his or her own temperature, and knows which over-the-counter medications to
take for which symptoms.
4. Good social skills and manners.
Knowing how to carry on a conversation with adults will help your child with
college instructors and potential employers. Basic manners, such as saying
‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ will help your child make a good first impression
with new acquaintances.
5. Auto maintenance skills. It’s
important for your child to know how often her car should be serviced and how
to change a tire in an emergency.
6. Essential domestic skills. Your
child doesn’t have to be Martha Stewart, but should know how to do her own
laundry, clean her own dorm room or apartment, and handle small household
emergencies like a clogged toilet.
7. Being a good judge of character.
Friends influence us more than we care to admit. Help your child learn to
assess whether someone is a good friend who will help him to be his best, or a
bad apple.
8. Work skills and basic
responsibility. To have success in college or on the job, one has to know how
to be punctual, stay on task until the job is done, and pay attention to the
details.
9. The ability to discern between
love and infatuation. Young adulthood is a season of lots of romantic stops and
starts. Make sure your child understands the difference between the kind of
mutual love you can build a marriage on and passing infatuation based simply
upon attraction.
10. The ability to admit fault and
start over. We all make mistakes. Help your child learn how to say, “I’m sorry,
I was wrong,” and take responsibility for those mistakes. A young person who
can do that will be able to regroup and try again in work, in the classroom,
and in relationships.
Taken from: http://www.imom.com/10-life-skills-your-teen-needs-before-leaving-home/
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