4 Skills To Teach Before Your Kids Fly The Nest

Melissa Deuter, doctor and writer at Mothering, has outlined 8 important skills we need to teach our kids to help them become self sufficient adults.

On days like today… when I've cleaned urine off the floor three times (potty training rocks!), I must admit I'm really looking forward to my son's independence. Even if it just means he can use the potty independently and wipe his own butt.

Seriously though, a lot of the skills Deuter mentions seem to go largely untaught. Maybe we're too busy. Maybe we forgot. Maybe we think it's someone else's job. Some of these I had never thought of, but they make so much sense!

1. Domestic/Maintenance skills:

The necessary household skills teens need to build before moving out include:

• Basic cooking
• Auto maintenance—like learning when the car should be serviced and how to change a tire
• Laundry
• Cleaning skills for a dorm room or apartment,
• Handling small household emergencies like a clogged toilet

I'm astounded by the amount of people that don't know how to change a tire or unclog a toilet. Want a real surprise? Check out how much plumbers, mechanics, and tow truck drivers charge to do these simple things.

2. Financial skills:

Before leaving home, kids and teens need practice budgeting, managing money, balancing a checkbook, saving for emergencies, maintaining bank accounts, and paying bills.

I really wish my parents had taught me this one. Learning on my own was difficult and financially dangerous. I made a lot of mistakes.

3. Medical care skills:

Every adult needs to have healthcare knowledge to be capable of giving a medical history, filling a prescription at a pharmacy, or knowing how to self-diagnose simple illnesses, use a thermometer, and take over-the-counter medications.

During our engagement, my husband was still calling his parents from the doctor's office in order to fill out his medical history and he had no idea that there was a difference between ibuprofen and tylenol.

4. Friendship/Interpersonal Relationship Skills:

Good social skills and manners go a long way. Teens should know how to carry on a conversation with a person of any age. They should be good judges of character. They should learn to speak up, stand up for a friend, keep a secret (and when to refuse to keep a secret), ignore bad behavior, and to confront someone who is out of line. Likewise they need to learn to really listen, admit fault and apologize, talk out a conflict with a friend (or roommate), say I love you, and hug.

This is another skill that seems to be lacking in the young people I meet these days. I'm not sure who's to blame or if it's just a sign of the times. Either way, I know these young adults would get a lot further in life if they had the interpersonal skills employers, friends, and potential spouses are looking for.

Curious what other 4 skills made the list? Check out the complete list of 8 skills to teach before your kids fly the nest at Mothering.