Leaving the Nest: 5 Things You Must Teach Your Kids Before They Leave Home

Remember when potty-training or walking without tumbling was the biggest lesson you needed to teach your kids? Now they are all grown up and ready to leave home.

Interesting how time flies!

But are your kids ready to leave home for college or work? This is a question many parents ask themselves. The truth is that you can never be too sure. But to calm your anxiety, here is a roundup of five lessons your children will need once they flee the coop.

1. Financial Management

Managing money, budgeting, and living within one's means isn't easy, even for adults. But you must teach these important lessons to your kids because their success in life might depend on them. If you haven't already discussed the subject of money, your children are not ready to leave yet.

Begin teaching this as early as possible. Help them budget their allowances and hold them accountable for any misuse of money. If they are of age, encourage them to open a bank account and discuss the issue of credit cards. Many credit card companies take advantage of the naivety of college students and lure them into debt. This can significantly disrupt your son or daughter's life.

2. Personal Safety

A parent's worst nightmare is having their child's safety compromised. It, therefore, becomes essential to teach them some personal safety tips. Simple things like walking in groups at night around campus, being in plain sight for initial dates, and even carrying pepper spray can save their lives.

While parties are part of college life, emphasize the need to decline such requests from strangers. Take the much-publicized story of the 21-year-old woman that honored a party invite by one of the partners at CMC lawyers. What started as fun ended with the young lady being sexually assaulted.

3. Clean and Cook

Ideally, these lessons should have started at or right before your kids' teenage years. If you missed the opportunity to do this, then it's time for a crash course. Teach your children basic hygiene like cooking and cleaning after themselves, including laundering their clothes.

Teach them how to make quick, healthy meals as well. A few reliable recipes will come in handy when college life gets busy.

4. How to Self-Advocate

You probably have been there throughout your child's life doing their advocacy for them. Be it at the doctor's, in school, or at their summer jobs, they have always had mom or dad looking out for them. Soon, this will not be an option, and they will need to be their own advocates in different situations.

As college days begin approaching, it helps to start easing off your protective umbrella and let your children start some self-advocacy on your watch. This will teach them how to stick up for themselves. The more they do this, the more confidence they will have in themselves.

5. It's Okay to Ask for Help

While it's important to teach children how to be independent and self-sufficient, asking for help is just an important a lesson. There are eight suicides in Australia every day. You do not want this to be your son or daughter.

Let your children know that it is okay to be vulnerable and to need a helping hand once in a while. Besides this, assure them of your love for them and that they can talk to you whenever they need to.

Start Early

Whenever possible, begin teaching these lessons to your kids as early on as possible. The more they hear it and practice it, the better off they will be once they leave home.