As children grow, there are life skills parents are expected to impart in them and these will make their life easier as they grow. The children might feel pushed to the wall while learning some skills but it is up to the parent to work their way around making the child accept them. Without them, your child may turn out a society nuisance.
Yes, most parents get caught up in the busy work schedules but sparing time to groom your child into a responsible citizen could never be traded for whatever is keeping you busy. These skills are home grown.
House chores
Most teenagers dislike house chores but as a parent, it is your responsibility to guide them. Doing laundry, dishes, making meals and tidying up are things a parent should never deprive their child of since they are important to their future. Grace Namuli ,56, a nanny emphasises that most times when parents have house helps they tend not to bother about their children learning house chores but this becomes challenging for them later on in the future.
Dress code
An inappropriately-dressed child always makes some members of society wonder how the child left past the gate without parental guidance. “Your child’s dress code represents your level of responsibility. Restrict your child from dressing seductively.
Explain what others will make of it so that your child grows up knowing that a person always has to look presentable,” says Maria Kamali, a mother of six girls. This guides them in future to be able to distinguish what type of clothes go to office, outings and formal functions.
What society expects of them
Many would kill for a polite and well-bred child with good social behaviour but not many parents are willing to spare time off their busy work schedules to guide their child. Manners range from not just how your child conducts him or herself around elders an d peers.
Most teenagers tend to be impolite and most times they cannot be blamed because they have grown up without being corrected on what can be and should not be said in public.
According to Joseph Kiberu, a counsellor, society has expectations of each and everyone but more emphasis is put on how you carry yourself around and the only way a person could know this is if they learnt these morals from home.
Let them be able to drive
Such may sound luxurious to many but it is a plus in scenarios when it is most required especially when the family needs someone to apply these skills to rush a member to a hospital in the parent’s absence.
Kansiime Banyenzaki, a father of three says, “A child who knows how to drive will relieve the parent of spending more energy. Let them drive to the shopping mall, the farm and even take turns with you while going long distances.” The family driver too needs a break as you save that day’s wage. Keep in mind this is for children above 18 as it is the legal driving age in Uganda.
Table etiquette
How to use the cutlery, how to chew, how to start and end a meal are skills most parents leave to society to teach their children which end up embarrassing them.
Dorcus Achaloi, a mother of two learnt the hard way when it came to table manners with her two sons. She recalls a family get together they had and her sons “they would talk carelessly, move around and even pick food from my plate, this was embarrassing but I blamed myself because at home I never taught them table etiquette.”
This should not be the reason why you hardly go to parties or dinners with your children.
Bargaining skills
This helps you not to raise an extravagant child. Lack of bargaining skills is usually regretted during teenage years when a child starts doing their shopping which means they need to grasp this art before they mature into adults ready to run their homes.
Surroundings
Most children are used to the comfort of riding in cars with their parents and hardly know their way around town without the parent’s assistance. There will come a time when a child’s knowledge of places around them comes in handy.
“It is vital for a child to beware of their environment and what better way to go by this than use public means of transport without a parent’s assistance,” says John Mangeni, a banker. This improves their interaction and boosts their confidence.
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