ADULTING 101

This is a Genuine, Full-Blown Grammie Rant!!!

People!!! Start teaching your children things they need to know – NOW!!!

Okay, so I saw an article about colleges teaching Adulting 101. Seriously!!! I looked at the syllabus of a class. Amazing. Everything from finances to doing laundry. These are skills that the PARENTS should and must be teaching! It is NOT the school system’s responsibility at any level!!!

I’m going to keep this simple.

Make your children responsible for their own stuff! When they play with their toys, the toy box or toy drawer is the proper receptacle when the children are finished playing. Put there by them – NOT the parent. Yes, maybe help until the kids get the hang of it, then demand they do it themselves. EVERY TIME!

Make them clean up their room, make the bed from scratch, and put their dirty clothes in the proper receptacle. Again, with all of these chores, proper instruction and help is needed.

My girls had to help in the kitchen and with meal clean up from an early age. When our dishwasher broke down one time, I didn’t get it repaired until I was sure they had learned the proper technique for washing, drying, and putting away dishes. Making simple meal items gives kids skills to use their entire lives. When my girls were the magic age of 11, they had to do their own laundry weekly. Folding and putting away their clothes came much earlier.

People! Teach your kids the difference between a trashcan and the floor! Buy small trash cans at the dollar store. It’s really an easy concept! Good stuff here, garbage there. Seriously! Teach them the difference between a trash bag and the sidewalk.

And for heaven’s sake, adults – if you are going to smoke or chew, the parking lot or sidewalk is NOT the place for your garbage!!! Do you know how gross it is to step in someone’s spit??? Did you know it takes anywhere from 18 months to 10 years for cigarette filters to decompose?

Maybe give your kids an allowance or let them earn extra money, but make them responsible! How about giving them an unused checkbook ledger to keep their income and expenses listed so they can see where they are wasting their money? Have them list the junk they buy and how long they actually played with it or used the item. (Adults – let’s do the same!)

I’ll rant about teaching kids manners and communication skills another blog, but let’s just say – TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO LISTEN AND SPEAK POLITELY!!!

So that’s my rant for the day.

There are many verses in the Bible about child rearing. Remember discipline is about training effectively and consistently. Proverbs 22:6, though it is talking more about spiritual things, it can also be applied to general parenting. It tells us to start teaching our children good habits and making good choices. The values, behaviors, and beliefs lovingly instilled now will settle into their hearts and shape their present, future, and eternity.

Please parent consistently with forethought and prayer.

Blessings

kb

PS I think I should be giving Clipart Library accolades for all the nice artwork I use. Thank you Clipart Library!!!