Practical life skills to teach kids?

[Sleepdeprived42long]

I've just been diagnosed with a chronic health condition which impacts on my energy levels. It’s made me realise how much of my energy is taken up doing things for my kids-age 10 and 8. I know I can’t expect them to be fully independent but it has made me realise that I’ve been facilitating a very easy/taken for granted lifestyle and I’m not sure how helpful that will be for them as they grow up.

I mentioned to them that it was time for them to start doing some more things for themselves and learning stuff that will benefit them for the future. They seem surprisingly engaged and keen to learn! I’m thinking how to cook a meal, how to budget, that sort of thing.

So what would you say are good practical life skills to teach your kids that they don’t learn in school?

My initial thought was how to disagree and listen to others viewpoint... but its not quite practical!

Making own packed lunch,/breakfast
Changing bed sheets
Loading dishwasher
Putting away clothes
Hoovering

Life skills for tweens book on Amazon covers loads of things like cooking, reading a map and timetable, keeping clean etc.

Thanks for the reminder to work through it. Went down well with my son.

Finances and budgeting, what bills need paying, maybe as they get older talk about basic tax, pensions etc

@PuttingDownRoots I love your suggestions, especially the one about disagreeing! Tricky to ‘teach’ but definitely a life skill!

@Flurbegurb off to check out that book on Amazon! Thanks for the recommendation!

I've got an auto immune disease that means I'm often out of commission, I've got 4 kids age 14-24 and they have all learned life skills to be able to do as much as they can for themselves. They have all learned to cook simple meals like scrambled egg on toast or French toast around age 7-8. They can all work the washing machine/dish washer by the same age. I've also taught them to paint/paper, make flat pack furniture and lay laminate flooring although that obsessively depends on my own health and ability to show them. But my youngest daughter is 14 and she can do everything her older siblings can. I never ever want my kids to be reliant on somebody else , being independent is absolutely a priority and the best way to produce confident, outspoken and assertive adults. I'm very proud of all of my kids.

Persuasion, I talk about that with my DC a lot. If you can persuade/charm people you can do and have anything.

Cooking, cleaning, self-hygiene incl avoiding nits/fleas, basic first aid, riding a bike / driving a car (or road awareness and road rules knowledge if young - DS19 has memorised the highway code and gives me running commentary from backseat), gardening veg, money management.

Why not focus on the things you are likely to find hardest first?
So maybe changing sheets on a bed, or hanging up laundry or whatever?
And yes to the cooking as if you have a bad day they can make themselves (and you) something simple.

@glasshole your kids sound amazing-I suppose it’s about turning what might be a negative for me into something positive for them. I want them to be independent and this has given me a wake up call that I can’t and shouldn’t keep doing everything for them.

@TeenDivided thats good advice-things that I’ll struggle with do with them first :) having them cook dinner for me now and again would be amazing so need to find something quick and easy!

Scrambled egg on toast
Omelette
Pasta & sauce made of cut fried onions, mushrooms, chopped tomatoes,

How to change bed - including washing and drying bedclothes. Not overloading washing machine. Sorting and putting away laundry.

how to hoover - including emptying cylinder, checking brushes are moving freely etc. using attachments to dust skirting boards, sook up spider webs etc. when they are older, how to hoover stairs

making simple meals - scrambled eggs, pasta and tomato sauce, mince and potatoes

asking for help/advice - nobody knows everything. If you don’t know, it’s much better to ask than to try to muddle along. Ask politely and remember to say thank you. In general, at their age, they should only ask trusted adults - family members, teacher, police.

using public transport - planning journeys, paying/using bus pass, etiquette at bus stops (!)

Start with easy task and work up to more difficult ones.

Refill water into refillable flasks.

Rinse out tins and sort recycling.

Tidy shoes on shoe rack putting them in pairs.

Put microwave meal into microwave slitting holes in plastic film first. Use oven gloves to peel off film before eating.

Strip their bed taking of pillowcase, sheet and duvet cover.

Putting a pizza in oven and setting oven alarm for 17 mins. How to use oven gloves to put pizza on plate and cut up.

Pegging out washing is easy if you know peg trousers upside down etc.

Sorting laundry into lights and darks. Teach them which temp to put washing on and how much detergent to use.

Making a packed lunch. Sandwich/wrap/pepperoni stick, fruit, tube yoghurt, crisps, baby bel etc.

Vaccine floor. Look around and pick anything off floor before you begin.

Load a dishwasher. Where to stack plates, dishes, cups etc.

Put away shopping. Make space in freezer. Rotate around tins etc. Stack fridge with meat at bottom etc.

Make up bed. Putting on sheet, pillow case and then duvet cover.

Lots of good stuff already but couple of things spring to my mind like sewing on a button, changing a lightbulb, re-setting/changing a battery in a smoke alarm, how to use the heating and hot water controls and thermostat, how to reset a trip switch in your fusebox (also where this is as well as stopcock), and show them your before bed routine i.e. check front and back doors locked, turn off all lights except hallway or whatever yours might be! All this is excellent prep for going to uni etc! Oh and where you keep your torch/candles/matches etc