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Raising your child to be independent doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t rely on you. Instead, it is about giving them the skills that they may eventually need to be able to live away from the family home, and still look after their fundamental needs. This process can begin from a young age. There are also steps that you can take alongside this that will make the transition to adult independence a little bit easier for your child.
One of these steps can be through setting up a savings account in your child’s name, that they can only access once they are an adult. Teaching investing for juniors can also be quite important. While your child may be able to look at the money they have, and figure out how much they can buy with it, this may not allow them to prepare for any financial emergencies that might occur. You could show them the contents of their savings account, as well as how interest helps it to grow. From this, they may be more inclined to put aside some of their own allowance or pocket money to be deposited into this account, and get into the habit of saving, alongside any money that you put away for them.
A child may struggle to become successfully independent if they suffer with low self-esteem. This could be because they don’t have enough belief in themselves to be motivated to complete tasks and undertake projects without your help. Spending time finding a number of ways to help build on your child’s confidence can allow them to understand the things they are genuinely capable of, and even become more outgoing. Confidence can be incredibly important once your child reaches adulthood, allowing them to pursue relationships, and even make important career decisions.
There are also a number of tasks which you may do every single day which can help your child to become independent. While they may have a lot of pressure on them from school, as well as any extra-curricular activities, that doesn’t mean they should be given a free pass from helping out around the home. Initially, teaching your child how to do chores may be more time-consuming, while they work out how to get jobs done efficiently, and to a high standard. However, in the long run, this may take some work off of your plate, and teach your child a number of life skills that they could need when you no longer live together. In addition to this, it can also help your child to better appreciate the things that you do for them, and even to respect and look after their belongings.
Teaching your child to become more independent could also potentially help with reducing any worries they have when away from home, as they will be both equipped to deal with a number of likely situations, and also assured in their ability to manage on their own.
