Dear parents, how is the holiday going with the kids around? I hope you are coping well with all their disturbance and endless demands. As we can see, the holiday period is running very fast. The first half of August is gone and in about 15 days we will be in September, the month of school resumption.
At the beginning of this holiday period, this column started a series enlightening parents on the various ways they could engage their children positively during the holiday. We talked about the need to introduce the kids to vocational skills. We mentioned that emphasis is gradually shifting to what the hands can do in addition to paper qualifications. And we listed some of the vocational skills to include painting, drawing, weaving, beading, tailoring/fashion design, culinary arts, graphic design, hairdressing, auto repair, carpentry, electrical works, plumbing, welding, etc. We established that some of the skills may be too difficult for children to learn depending on their age, but that parents could start with the less tasking ones. This column also urged parents to pay more attention to their children with the intention to discover their talents and think of how to help develop them.
Next, we focused on teaching teenagers about money. We arrived at the conclusion that every child deserves to be taught about money, but that it becomes even more vital in their teen years because at that time, they are on the path to becoming young adults. This knowledge, we argued, helps to discipline kids on the use of money, spending, saving, and giving. On what exactly to do in this regard, we urged parents to teach the kids contentment, help them figure out how to make money during their free time, give them the responsibility of a bank account and also get them saving for college no matter how much they make. That way, they know the importance of making plans for their money while they’re still under your roof.
We also discussed in an earlier edition how you can catch kids young in money matters. Some of the ways we examined are teaching them good spending habits by explaining the importance of buying what they need and not what they want; making a game out of counting loose change into a piggy bank or jar; teaching them the importance of saving for a special day by giving them some money to put into their piggy bank for a future goal like a special toy; teaching them about money by letting them help with the basic adding and subtracting involved in checking the total cost of some of your shopping list, etc. No doubt, continuous money conversation with your children makes them more financially confident by setting their priority right.
We also talked about some vital tips on how parents can manage their home during this long holiday period – in the midst of the prevailing harsh economy. We encouraged parents to dust up their Home Economics notebooks and skills, draw up a meal time table and paste it where everyone can see it, such that everybody in the house knows what meal is available for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We talked about the need to consider different ways of making a particular kind of food so that the children don’t feel they are eating the same type of meal every time. We encouraged parents to also consider economical purchase like refill packs of beverages for the family’s consumption, learn some new recipes like bread making and doughnuts that can guarantee healthy consumption of bread, and discourage wastage by ensuring that food is dished to each child according to what they can finish.
Dear parents, we understand that some of the suggestions we made in those articles may not come as easy as they seem, but have you tried any? Which of them have you tried? Did it work for you? If you have not, which one do you consider giving a try?
It is not late. It is still the middle of August, with clear three weeks or more before the holiday season comes to an end, so you can still maximize the remaining days to introduce your child to a vocational skill where you have noticed they have interest or exhibit talent. And if you have not been able to discover your child’s interest, you can still do that in the remaining days and target the next long holiday to enhance the discovered skills. As my Igbo people say, “Mgbe onye jiri teta ura bu ututu ya,” which means, “Whatever time one wakes up is the person’s morning.”
Shout out to every parent out there doing their very best to see that their children are the best version of themselves, especially those who have taken it upon themselves this holiday period to enrol their children to learn a vocational skill irrespective of the current situation of our dear country, Nigeria. May all our efforts be crowned with success and may we live to eat the fruit of our labour in good health. Amen
Do have a lovely weekend.
