What life skills are you teaching your kids?

CountryBabe75

I am teaching my kids how to be self-sufficient and how to make their own decisions. I'm also teaching them to give 110% in everything they do and to take up for others.

ELMunque

All the basics, cooking, cleaning, laundry, budget and the power of saving. Credit cards and loans are bad, saving is good.

Also, that you must work for everything, nothing is free and not all work is the same.

A job is a means to get where you want to be. A career is when you are there.

How to defend themselves. Never hit first.

Being a ***** is ok, but if you do it all the time nobody will care about what you are passionate about. Choose your battles.

Nobody can affect your life unless you let them.

I'm sure there are more.

BigT555

im a 21 year old with no kids but in my experience heres what you should be teaching your kids SKILL WISE (outside of the common sense things like empathy and social interactions)

-home repair (drywall, carpentry, some concrete work, painting, electrical ect.) i will never underestimate the value of knowledge i gained from having a father who built houses for a living and working construction labour in my highschool summers. extremely handy and cost saving being able to patch some drywall or build a small shed as opposed to buying one

-how to cook. my parents nailed this one and i am grateful for it, i make my roommates drool on a nightly basis with food that is cheaper and more nutritious than their frozen lasagna

-car repair. one thing i feel i should have concentrated more on as a hobby, i can change an oil filter but if you told me to point out the altinator ill be scratching my head. some mechanics are tricky little buggers and overcharge, good to have a general idea of what your repairing before going to a garage

-how to swim. this is a given, you should know how to do a basic front crawl for safety above anything else. my parental units threw me into swimming lessons from the age of 3.

-basic first aid. sign them up for a course if you dont know yourself. being able to treat minor to intermediate wounds in many situations can be live saving.

-to sit and talk when sometimes you dont want to. some may disagree. but ive learned alot from talking to people i had no interest in talking to originally. besides this, being able to convince people that you are interested in a topic when you are not is actually a pretty useful tool. its landed me some part time work and useful contacts

-to budget. unfortunately my parents didnt do so well on this one, i am terrible at holding a budget, complete impulse buyer

tincanonastring

Lots of good answers here, and a lot of stuff that I think all parents try to teach their kids. My kid is still very young and his sister will be here within the week, so we're just starting out. Along with the normal task-related teaching and lessons on handling emotions, my wife and I are really concerned about 3 core concepts:

1) Question everything and seek evidence - We want our children to be constant learners, to strive for understanding of the world around them, and to never settle for someone else's word. We want them to find wonder in everything they see and to be amazed when they learn how those things work.

2) Violence is never the right answer to a problem - We are firm believers in non-violent resolution at every level, with personal self-defense as an absolute last resort. With a three-year old, we're pretty much focused on not expressing frustration with violent actions, but we will stress de-escalation over confrontation.

3) The importance of perseverance - Yoda got it wrong; without trying, there is no doing. We make sure to praise the effort, not the result. When he gets something right, we point out how proud we are of him practicing that skill until he got it right. When he fails, we talk about how awesome he'll feel once he keeps trying and gets it right for the first time.

Thanks for all your ideas!

LainMac

My 4 kids are nearly 14 to just 20. Hubby and I working on a lot of the things mentioned above. The one thing that we are doing that hasn't been mention, is letting them fail. As they get older, they are learning (and not liking it very much) that we won't always "fix" their mistakes and/or "saying sorry" won't wipe the slate clear.

Example, youngest son doesn't like to do his homework in timely fashion. This year's Spanish teacher gave him a Zero on assignment turned in late. He wanted us to talk to her. We said no. Hubby actually said

"Now, son, do you really want us to be helicopter parents?"

Son replies "Well every other parent in town is, why can't you be!?"

Hubby and I both laugh. I say "Honey, we are more likely to be surveillance helicopter parents ~ we want to know what you are up to."

BusyRaeNOTBusty

They are too little now but I hope to teach them to change a tire, drive a stick, keep a budget and hold their liquor.

Some_Watery_Tart

For physical needs, I cover the basics in my house: cleaning, cooking, finances, navigation, and problem solving. I also teach honesty, tolerance, humor, personal responsibility, and overall life balance.

My philosophy is that I'm raising adults, not children. My job is to have them fully capable of handling their own lives before they graduate from college. My 15 year old schedules her own appointments--dentist, doctor, ortho, haircuts. All of it. My 13 year old takes care of the yard--even adjusts the sprinkler system. My 11 year old makes dinner 2-3 nights a week. Most of the neighbor kids don't even have chores. It's appalling. But I'm really glad to know that they'll be somewhat prepared when they move out. I sure wasn't.

We also have lots of fun as a family since I'm not busy trying to take care of everything myself. :bigsmile:

NYactor1

To always avoid the white van that says 'free candy' on the side. It's never free.

deluxmary2000

I'm currently teaching my oldest to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run.

I'm also teaching her to be respectful, empathetic, inquisitive, and independent. When she gets older, I will teach her how to cook and budget.

Timshel_

We've been steady since the kids were young to teach them everything is a choice and you reap the benefit or tolerate the consequence of your choice. It did not mean so much to them as little kids except maybe they would get things taken away if they made bad choices, but now that my son is a teen we talk MUCH more about the consequence of bad choices, and the life long benefits of good choices.

Megan101792

dont have kids but the younger ones i know are learning nothing. oh, look, i can just look that or this up, act like a douche bag, and disrespect people. Excuse me, I was hit on the back on the head by my grandmother when I didn't hold a door open for someone older than me, even though i'm a girl at the age of four.

SwashBlogger

Lots of great points here. PLEASE also teach them to be responsible with money and not live beyond their means. WAY too much entitlement around these days.

teresamwhite

I remember getting ready to go down to PT on a Monday and a knock at my door. I opened it to find one of my soldiers in his boxers and a Tshirt, looking really embarrassed. He didn't have a PT uniform because everything was dirty and he didn't know how to do his own laundry. He had bought about a dozen sets, and was out.

At that moment I swore any child of mine would be prepared to live in the world on their own two feet. i've taught them from a very early age how to cook, clean, do laundry, balance a checkbook, budget, do yard work, basic car maintenance, basic home maintenance and the ability to research any question they might have. I started with very, very basic stuff, like matching socks or folding washcloths when they were toddlers...my 15 year old can handle most day-to-day tasks, and can look things up when he's stymied...right now he is fascinated by the stock market and day trading. My 11 year old started learning car maintenance last year and can change the oil and air filter, change a tire and replace a car battery. She's also an avid hunter...

The more we can teach them, or more we can expose them to so they can adapt to any situation the better.

ninerbuff

How to make 2 sandwiches every time. The other one will be for me.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Screwedntattooed

I have taught my kids everything they need to be self sufficient and independent I have 3 boys and 3 girls and they can all cook, clean, do laundry, and they are super respectful, smart and obedient. I have freaking awesome kids!

Healthy_4_Life2

Self sufficiency, respect for oneself and staying true to oneself!

silentKayak

I am there to help if they need it but I am teaching them not to need it. If that makes sense

Yup. Mine are teens and can cook, clean up after themselves, and do laundry. Trying to teach them to manage their own schedules now.

christashay

To not only stick up for themselves, but for others who cannot do so. To remember health always trumps wealth. That family is everything and God is always first. Very proud of my grown daughters, who are awesome wives and mothers, and my son is a smart, strong young man. Very proud indeed!

melmelw80

That life isn't always fair. Things aren't simply handed to you. You have to work hard and be consistent to get what you want. My oldest is 10 and has Asperger's (a high functioning form of autism) so she has to learn many things that come somewhat naturally to others. ....empathy, how to interact socially, that the world does not revolve around her. The world is not going to treat her special just because she has a disorder. She has to learn to navigate it because the world will not change for her. She may some day change the world. ..she is super amazing! But life isn't always rainbows and unicorns.

jennilee8380

how to set the DVR to delete the shows that aren't that important automatically to save room for the good shows before it gets too full

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how to properly shotgun a beer in 3 seconds flat before college