Interesting.
Many of us have found some of our “adulting” skills were…slightly lacking when we moved out the family home.
Things like cooking up a nutritious meal, solving DIY issues around the home or personal admin can be a hurdle for some people taking their biggest steps towards becoming independent.
A Mumsnet user turned to her fellow forum users for help, in an effort to figure out the most important “life skills” to help prepare kids for the real world.
They explained:
“I was thinking recently about the things that school doesn’t teach, but are nonetheless invaluable skills for a successful and happy life.
“So I started to make a list, that I intend to follow when my DC get older. Here is what I have so far;
- Personal finance (not sure if this is taught these days but it wasn’t when I was at school in the 90s)
- Cooking and meal planning
- First aid
- Sewing
- Time management
- Basic household maintenance (how to wire a plug etc.)”Can people think of others or elaborate on what I have already? Thanks!”
Many people were quick to chime in, suggesting everything from “confidence when making phone calls” to “how to say no politely and stick to it”.
However, some of them weren’t quite as “essential” as the name essential life skills would suggest.
We went through some of the ideas put forward and come up with this list of 15 key life skills to teach your kids, according to Mumsnet users.
- Sensible and safe use of social media
- Swimming
- Budgeting
- Job hunting and interview skills
- How to cook
- How to test a smoke alarm
- Basic (but probably necessary) DIY
- Time management
- How to buy or rent a house – and not lose your deposit
- How to spot red flags in friendships and relationships.
- Basic gardening skills
- How to read timetables and maps for when GPS fails
- How to cope without their phone (in case it dies, they have no signal, or charger)
- First Aid
- Laundry
