Being a teenager is always tough, no matter where you live or what your background is. All those hormones flying around and big decisions to be made about future plans and exam results. There are key skills that all young people should have before they leave home and go out into the big wide world. Being able to quote Shakespeare is all well and good but what does your son or daughter do if their car breaks down or they lose their bank card? Here are some essential life skills you should teach your teens:

How to cope with money

Teaching your young adult about how interest works, how to check their balance online and the way credit cards operate are all really important skills for later life. Make sure you explain the real-life situation with debt and how it can affect credit scores and the ability to get financial help in the future. Start them off with a budget, for new clothes for example, and get them to make a list of what they need, where they will get them from and how much it will cost. Create a hypothetical scenario and ask them to budget for a month, factoring in rent, food and other expenditure.

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Cooking

At some point, your son or daughter will have to feed themselves and if you don’t want them living on fast food and toast then some help in the kitchen will be required. Get your child into the kitchen and teach them about basic necessary ingredients, where to buy them and make sure they know how to safely use all kitchen appliances. How to store food and food hygiene are also very important. Some basic recipes to try out will set your child in good stead for the future. Ask them to research their own recipes that they’d like to try out.

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Health

How to take of yourself is one of the most important life skills that anybody can possess. Recognising an ailment, what to buy from the pharmacy and when to visit a GP are vital tools for taking care of ourselves. Getting plenty of nutritious food, staying well-hydrated and simple hygiene rules at home will go a long way in insuring they remain fit and healthy for their new adventures. Ask your teen if they would like to attend a first aid skills course. This also includes looking after their sexual health and may include not only discussing the importance of safe sex with them but also how to contact organisations such as www.checkurself.org.uk/plus/home_sti_kits/ who provide STI Testing London way, or one close to your location.

Organisation

One of the biggest shocks to the system about leaving home is the amount of organisation that you’re now responsible for. Teach them about the importance of keeping things tidy so they don’t lose things and end up having poor time management skills. If they need to be at work or class for 9am then teach them the importance of having clothes ironed etc the night before to avoid a full-blown panic at 8.30am! Make sure they have a good alarm clock and highlight the importance of structure and pre-planning in order to make things run a lot smoother.

Watching a loved one suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease or any type of dementia can cause feelings of heartbreak, frustration and hopelessness. Once your loved one has received a dementia diagnosis, though, the best thing you can do is prepare for the future. Thinking about late-stage care is difficult but important. Financial, emotional and health considerations can all weigh heavily on the decision to keep your loved one at home or not. » Read more

Did you play netball at school and have recently wanted to try it again? Then you’re not alone. There’s been a recent resurgence in women returning to the competitive sports they first learned at school, in the case of hockey driven by the outstanding success of the Great Britain women’s team winning Olympic gold a few years ago. The Netball World Cup promises to be an incredible popular event this year with Event Medical Cover being included as standard at games like these. This ensures the safety and wellbeing of the players as well as an spectators. If you are thinking of holding your own local netball league then Outdoor Medical Solutions provide event medical cover for all sorts of events.

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According to figures from Back to Netball, since the organisation started in 2009 more than 60,000 women have taken up the sport again, over 60% of them women between the ages of 30-49. Many of them are mothers seeking to lose weight and overcome the isolation that it’s all too easy to feel after having children.

Why Women are Coming Back to Netball

For many women who’ve never really had a focus on getting fit, taking up netball is far more enjoyable than a trip to the gym. For others, it’s about doing something for themselves that’s both social and competitive, and getting some much needed ‘me time’.

Of course returning to a sport you love after some time out can be demanding, as aching muscles and injuries take longer to heal. Start small by watching netball training videos to catch up on modern techniques, then start by dipping your toe into a Back to Netball class.

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This Girl Can

If you’ve seen the adverts with women of all shapes and sizes grunting and sweating you’ll be aware of the ‘This Girl Can’ campaign to get women involved in sport. By dispelling the myth that you have to be fit and slim to take up sport, it’s been phenomenally popular, offering not just sports like hockey and netball for younger women but Walking Netball, aimed at the over 55s. Since the first group started in 2016, more than 2,000 players have got involved.

Changes to Sport England’s funding strategy and scepticism about the legacy of London 2012 may have been off-putting for some women. Nevertheless there are thousands of small netball teams across the country who meet up weekly and play for fun, so if you want to get involved, why not search Facebook or even look for notices in the local park or sports centre. To get fit and have fun doing a sport you love, just pull on a bib, pick up a ball and play!

If you’re a guitar player, you probably have an intimate relationship with one or more of your instruments. As George Harrison said, “I’m only myself when I have a guitar in my hands.” But your fabulous-sounding guitar takes on wear over time, its sound and action degrading without regular maintenance. Replacing it is not a good option: used guitars will likely have some of the same issues yours has; new guitars are expensive and eventually will become used and develop the same issues yours has. Boston guitar repair is the best option, especially for complicated fixes. » Read more

It can be difficult to know the best solution for caring for aging parents or disabled siblings, especially if there are time or space constraints that make it impractical for a family member to start or continue to be the primary caretaker. Depending on an individual’s abilities and level of care needed, there are many options to keep your loved ones safe and healthy. » Read more

You may have decided that you want to pre-plan your own funeral now so that your family members will not have to worry about it. It’s a great way to make sure that your wishes are well-known and followed when you pass away, and it’s also a good way to take a big burden off of your family members. When you are pre-planning your funeral, it’s not a bad idea to talk to someone from the funeral home about cremation rather than planning for a burial. If you’re wondering why cremation can be a good option for someone who is pre-planning their own funeral, consider these reasons.

It’s Usually Much Cheaper

One reason why you might be pre-planning your funeral is so that you can pay for everything ahead of time. This helps you take a big financial burden off of your loved ones. However, you might not want to spend a ton of money on your own funeral, either. If you plan for a cremation, then you can save a lot of money. Then, pre-paying for your own funeral will be a whole lot cheaper.

You’ll Have Time to Talk to Your Family

Some people are nervous about planning to be cremated because they think that their family members will not react well. However, when you pre-plan your funeral, you will provide yourself plenty of time to talk to your family members about your wishes and to make sure that they understand why you would prefer to be cremated.

You Can Enjoy Other Benefits

There are other reasons to consider cremation Riverside IL, too. For example, many people consider it to be the more eco-friendly option, so it is a popular choice among people who consider themselves to be environmentally conscious.

If you are in the middle of pre-planning your funeral and have not yet thought about cremation, then it will pay to consider it. If you talk to someone from a local funeral home, you can find out more about the pros and cons of cremation. Then, you can work on finalizing your funeral plans.