The first bunch of vacationists is home. The rest will also be back in a week’s time. Let’s get out of our comfortable parenting zone of raising toddlers and look out for the 13 year olds and above. As I excitedly await my turn to raise this age group, I must admit that it’s one crazy lot that needs a lot of sanity from your side as a parent. I engage with lots of parents some of whom are raising teenagers and the first thing they always emphasise is, “Never dare to leave a teenager idle for even a micro second”.
So now that a number of them are going to be home for some time, as a parent you must be wondering what to do with them. Most parents will be quick to mention the different holiday packages like baking classes, enrolling them for language lessons, computer lessons, or a favourite sport and the likes.
Very good and commendable ideas I must say but allow me pass on my honest opinion on this? It is very good and motivating for our children to engage in all the above but I really think that before we go in for the lessons, sports etc we should deal with our home and community first.
It doesn’t really matter what exactly they do. Any involvement is good! When they get involved in community activities, it comes with feelings of achievement. Being involved in community activities can give your child a positive way of understanding who he or she is. As a result, he/she might come to see him/herself as helpful, generous, political or just a ‘good’ person in general. This can also help create a sense of being connected to her local community and the wider world.
There is this one that is every parent’s favourite and every child’s nightmare- involving them in house chores. This will give them the chance to apply the skills they already have. For example, your child could use the cooking skills he’s learned at home to make snacks for sale. This will also give him/her experience in speaking to customers and handling cash.
Being able to manage free time while balancing leisure, work and study is an important life skill. Engaging in household activities could motivate a child to get more organised and start to manage their own time. It can be very positive psychologically for young people to have something that gets them involved, where others expect them to turn to gadgets or get lazy doing a whole lot of nothing. This is why I encourage parents to first exhaust all the activities you can engage your children while at home before we go venturing into lessons or classes outside home.