9 Basic Life Skills Your Teenager Should Learn

As parents, you undoubtedly love your child and want the best for them. But sometimes in giving them the best, we tend to pamper them too much and  unknowingly shield them from the chance to learn important life skills.

These are 9 basic life skills, you would do well to teach your teenagers before they go off into the world.

Cooking

Gone are the days of saying only girls and women should cook. Cooking has no gender really.  In fact, a lot of men cook better than women. Parents would do well to teach their children how to cook. Basic meals at least, boiling rice, spaghetti, making stews and one soup at least…not indomie all the time..lol. This is an essential skill your teens will be grateful to have when they go off to university. At least they won’t be expecting mommy to come and cook for them in school.

Laundry

Cleanliness is next to godliness they say. Ensuring that your child can take of chores that ensure good personal hygiene is extremely important. They need to learn how to take care of their laundry by themselves – washing their towels, bed sheets, singlets, underwear etc. It’s okay to afford them the privilege of having a dry cleaner, however; keep in mind that they are going out into the world on their own, and so this is an essential skill they must have. After all, they can’t carry the dry cleaner with them to the university to or to their own homes when they get married.

Responsibility

Assign a chore to your child, something that they know they will always be responsible for in the home. Throwing the dustbin away, sweeping the parlor, e.t.c. Even with the presence of a maid, this would teach your child to develop and maintain a sense of responsibility.

Awareness

Cultivate your child’s boldness and nurture it with good manners. One has to remember the danger signs that just any stranger represents, but your child has to know when to detect a dangerous stranger, and when to respectfully answer a stranger, this will be done optimally with your guidance.

Shopping at the Market

No matter how wealthy you are, your child has to be street smart to survive in the world. Take your child with you to see how things are sold in the market. Not every time food section at shoprite, sometimes take them to  places like Lagos island, saka tinubu, and Isale Eko market. Teach them how to get by when they are by themselves.

Taking Public Transport

Don’t fret about it, your child will not die. One day instead of picking them up from the cinema, tell them how to take a bus home. Let them get familiar with bus routes and bus stops. You never know when there may be an emergency and there is no mommy, daddy, or driver to pick them up.

Get Up On Time

Stop going to their rooms to wake them up! Let them cultivate the habit of getting up early enough to do what they need to do. Get them an alarm, and slowly they will get used to the routine.