Hi – Sue Blaney here with your Parenting Tip from Parenting Teens Info.com

My tip this week is
Teach your teen to be self-sufficient >>Listen

Does your teenager rely on you to do everyday things for him like meal planning, cooking, laundry, changing sheets etc.? You may feel this is perfectly appropriate given your teen’s age and the activities and expectations on him. But it’s a good idea to begin to notice his degree of self-sufficiency and to help him build up those skills.

As your teen becomes more self-sufficient she’ll feel more responsible and mature. As she develops important life skills she’ll be more confident and prepared for her eventual independence.  Your daughter wants a hair cut…why don’t you ask her to call for the appointment? Your son says that his soccer uniform needs to be ready for Friday’s game… show him how he can do the laundry. Dinner is going to be late tonight because you have a late appointment… have your teenager at least make the salad.

If parents do all of the everyday chores for our kids, we are depriving them of the opportunity to develop life skills they will need. This is important – from sewing on buttons to arranging for the oil to be changed in the car – our teenagers need to learn how to manage all aspects of their lives. Can she balance her checkbook? Well, she may not have one yet, but surely she can learn some basic budgeting,  for money-management is an essential skill. What are some of the other daily-life maintenance activities that you can begin to pass along to your teenager? Of course, you’ll want to keep their age in mind so you have realistic expectations of your son or daughter.

I encourage you to tune in to the everyday activities that you probably do without thinking, and teach some of them to your teenager. Consider it your own personal life-skills class. You’ll be doing your teen a favor in the long run!

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Til next time…I'm Sue Blaney.