But don’t just tell kids to cook and clean. It’s best to set some goals. Decide together which particular skills your child needs and wants to learn.

Does he know how to balance a checkbook? Boil eggs? Wash the dishes? Do laundry? Iron? Has she ever washed a car, waxed the floor or fixed a salad?

Make a list of the skills. Then set up a time when you will show your child, step-by-step, how to do each task.

Make sure to allow other times when your teen will do the task on her own—first with your supervision, then without. Let your teen check off the skill when she feels she’s mastered it.

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