Parents love their children so much. In fact, too much. "Being over-protective is an easy and common mistake that parents make," admitted a mom on PopSugar. Are you a parent who's concerned with your child's future?
"We parents, we're doing too much," Julie Lythcott-Haims, former dean of freshmen at Stanford University and author of "How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success," told Parenting.
"We have the very best of intentions, but when we over-help, we deprive them of the chance to learn these really important things that it turns out they need to learn to be prepared to be out in the world of work,” she explained.
Having worked with students for a decade, Lythcott-Haims found that some parents deprive their kids of a great opportunity: to learn life.
"But overhelping causes harm,” she told the Washington Post. “It can leave young adults without the strengths of skill, will and character that are needed to know themselves and to craft a life.”
Here are some life skills that Lythcott-Haims suggested.
Make/Choose a Meal
"By the time your kid is in high school, they really ought to be able to do everything related to their own care, if they had to," Lythcott-Haims said.
This doesn't mean that you won't prepare food for them, but it does mean letting them know how to do that for themselves. Same goes for choosing/ordering food at a restaurant or fast food.
Wake themselves up on time
Kids should be trained to wake up early, on time for everything they need to be in.
Do Laundry
Teach them to do the laundry. It will help them in the long run.
Pump Gas
"When they learn to drive, they better know how to pump gas, okay?" Lythcott-Haims said.
Pitch in/ Speak for Themselves
"Kids need to learn how to contribute for the betterment of the whole," she said. “The only way to teach them is to get out of their way and make them do it."
Talk to Strangers
Contrary to the rule “Don't talk to strangers,” Lythcott-Haims explained: "The right rule would be, 'Let me teach you how to discern the very few, creepy strangers from the vast, vast majority of normal strangers.' That's a skill."
Take Public Transportation
Teaching your kids to take public transportation is good, she added. It's best to let them learn young.
“We’re depriving our kids of the chance to do the work of life for themselves,” she wrote in her book. “You’re not their concierge, you’re their parent.”
