by Bryan Coates

Created on: September 22, 2009

The earlier someone is taught to take care of themselves and their environment, the better off they will be once they are out on their own. Everyday practices in home maintenance and good hygiene will lead your children far during college and long after they have graduated.

For a teenager, nothing is less fun than cleaning their room, making their bed, doing the dishes right after a meal or folding laundry. And none of these things may apply right away, especially not during freshman year of college. It truly does not matter how much effort you put into teaching your children the importance of cleanliness and home maintenance, because during their freshman year of college nothing else matters except their new found friends. There will never be another time in their lives when they are so dirty and so unorganized. There is just too much going on at once for them to care about anything you have taught them.

However, once the importance of passing their courses begins to sink in, then its a matter of becoming more organized and more focused. Freshman year is over, and if your child has been given a good practice of home maintenance and cleanliness in the past, then it will be like riding a bicycle-the good habits will kick back into high gear.

The importance of good housework practices is important for several reasons. For one thing, a young person who knows how to take care of themselves and their possessions tends to stand out over someone who does not. Professors can tell who takes good care of themselves by the way they present themselves in the classroom. If a student wears the same outfit to class every day (yes, this happens more often than not) a professor sees this. This is not to say that every child who rarely changes clothes during the week will perform more poorly in the classroom than someone who wears a new outfit every day and has a more professional approach to their school work. However, it does happen.Young adults who are taught the importance of good hygiene at a younger age, and who already have good habits of doing their laundry, tend to be more organized, focused and alert during their studies.

Staying on top of the housework is also important for social skills. Whether you are an adult, a high school student or a college student, you will not be successful in social networking if you do not take care of yourself or your belongings. Learning at a young age to treat your property with respect says a lot about the type of person you are. During

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