I am not a parent, no do I ever intend to be, however, my boyfriend has two sons. One of which is 18 years old and comes to stay at our place at least once a week.

The majority of his life he has been raised by his mother. And somehow along the way he missed being taught the basics of life. It baffles me how this could have happened. Here I was busy living my own life thinking that parents were modelling and teaching the basics of life. It is obvious I was wrong.

So every time he comes to stay we have to go over the basics as they do not come naturally to him. It is a slow process as he has already developed bad habits however I never think its too late to rethink how you do things and change your ways.

These are my suggestions for ten basics every human should have to get them through life successfully;

1. If you open a cupboard door, close it

2. Put the toilet seat down once you are finished

3. Wipe yourself dry before getting out of the shower

4. Hang your wet towel up on a rail once you have dried yourself

5. Put your dirty clothes in the washing basket

6. Clean your teeth before bed

7. If you borrow something, give it back

8. If you take something, make sure to return it to where you got it from

9. Say please and thank you

10. Put paper only in the recycling bin

These are the basics that I was taught at a very early age. But maybe I am wrong? Maybe I live differently from the rest of the world?

Or what has happened for our children to miss out on learning these basics? Who is to blame?

What are the important things you teach your children or would like to pass on to your future children? We would love it if you joined the conversation and left a comment below.