<p>One nice part of study abroad for my son was having to buy his own food and pay for it from a monthly budget we sent him. He learned how to cook and he also learned how to pack his essentials when leaving for the weekend or an entire week.</p>
<p>If there was even an ad for Scouting, this would be it. My kids have been camping and cooking their own meals outside since they were in elementary school. I insisted my Girl Scout troop go the grocery store and figure out how much to buy for the menu they planned. I was amazed that most girls had never done this. </p>
<p>My kids started doing their own laundry in 8th grade. They got 3 strikes of leaving junk in pockets that were in the hamper, then they were on their own.</p>
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<p>This describes my parents exactly, but my mom did end up passing away first. And guess what? At 84, my dad learned to cook and clean and use the washer and he loved it! Shopping for groceries became his favorite past time. As he got older, he did hire a cleaning service because cleaning became too physical for him and he did end up in a retirement home with the cooking and cleaning taken care of, but he did his own laundry until the end.</p>
<p>EK4 is right. There is nothing more annoying than an adult who is incapable of cleaning up their own messes. If these responsibilities are so easy to teach…why not teach them before they are loosed upon the world? IMHO I think this translates in to more than housekeeping and cooking.</p>
<p>And I do think that these habits are best learned in middle school.</p>
<p>Yea, I think living in an apartment requires more adult attention than living in a dorm. Probably a little more grocery shopping, etc. But a lot of those things, like buying toilet paper and a few supplies apply in dorm living too.</p>
<p>I think the notion that an 18 year old shouldn’t bother with learning how to cook, clean, buy household items, etc. because they have their whole lives to learn these things is kind of funny.</p>
<p>My kids started learning these basic life skills pretty young.</p>
<p>As another poster said - it’s not so much learning the skills, but actually learning to be responsible for doing them on their own, for themselves, without prompting.</p>
<p>And yea, I think that’s neat. I do think it’s a sign of maturity when kids take on some basic domestic responsibilities independently- i.e. keeping their space neat, making sure they eat well, doing their laundry, managing their finances and shopping, etc. And it’s exciting to watch them grow up - I DO think the development of THAT skill (taking care of business) is a sign of being on the road to adulthood…fun to watch as a parent.</p>
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<p>Pack for a trip? I never “learned” how to pack, I just stuff in whatever I need into my bag… isn’t that what you are supposed to do?</p>
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<p>If you have ever been involved with anyone who habitually forgets/fails to pack stuff (medicine/tooth brush/underwear etc.), you will come to understand that packing is a skill.</p>
<p>DH once went to Chicago in December and forgot to pack a winter coat. So 07Dad, I get it. My kids have done their own packing for vacations and camping trips for many years, and have gotten pretty efficient thankfully.</p>
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<p>I agree with Bay.</p>
<p>^^I’m not sure I understand how you can have a happy marriage and not know how to cook and clean? Somebody has to do it, and that someone will end up bitter if the other person thinks it is a choice. (unless you are millionaires)</p>
<p>I am neat and organized (my drawers and closets are works of art!), and pick up after myself and all of that, but we pay someone to clean for us. I hate to cook and I wish I lived above a Whole Foods so I could stop and pick up something for dinner every day.</p>
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<p>The point is more that it takes such a short time to teach these things that they can be learned very quickly in-the-moment. If the kid hasn’t ever done laundry before he heads off to college, it’s a 10-minute lesson at most.</p>
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<p>We have been married for decades, and always paid someone else to clean our house because neither one of us wanted to do it. It is not any more expensive to do this than plenty of other non-essential things that people indulge in (like mani-pedis, Starbucks, car washes, etc). We take care of our own breakfasts and lunches, so those are not an issue between us. I do most of the dinner prep because I want to, but oftentimes it includes things like a pre-packaged salad kit and a supermarket roasted chicken.</p>
<p>Some of you are confusing “not doing the cleaning” with “being a slob.” They aren’t the same thing. Plenty of people are neat, organized, don’t leave messes lying around, pick up after themselves, wipe up a spill they caused, keep their personal things tidy, etc. That’s not the same thing as “doing the cleaning” as in scrubbing the toilet or running the vacuum cleaner.</p>
<p>^True. Some people just <em>live</em> neater than others. It is not all about spending time cleaning.</p>
<p>I think what’s more important in a family is the sense of helpfulness. We paid someone who did the cleaning and laundry, but my kids were expected to help set / clear the table, help someone coming in the house with heavy bags, and just generally be helpful as needed. That to me is what avoids the sense of entitlement, not whether they actually did that load of laundry.</p>
<p>I think for those who don’t clean or cook themselves you still need to remember to have them done and plan for getting them done. For example, even if you live above whole foods - you still need to realize it is dinner time and you have to go down and pick something to eat and pay for it. This is different then having mom yell up to you in your room that dinner is on the table. It is accepting responsibility for caring for yourself and this too is a life skill and something they learn in college when living on their own.</p>
<p>It never dawned on me to do anything other than teach my kids “how to” what I was doing, as they were growing up. They went off to college knowing how to cook well, do laundry well, clean well enough, shop frugally, etc. I always told them they had to know how to do it all because I wanted my future daughters*-in-law to like me. ;)</p>
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<li>or sons-in-law if that’s how it goes… whatever.</li>
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<p>I would be mortified if I didn’t know how to clean or cook in college. I’ve known that stuff since at least middle school.</p>
<p>Cleaning up our own mess extends past our kitchens.
If we have the basic philosophy that it is someone elses job to deal with our detritus, will we ever see a line that shouldnt be crossed?</p>
<p><a href=“Gulf of Mexico Has Long Been a Sink of Pollution - The New York Times”>Gulf of Mexico Has Long Been a Sink of Pollution - The New York Times;
<p>[Wal-Mart</a> pleads guilty to dumping hazardous waste](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/05/28/wal-mart-waste/2366999/]Wal-Mart”>Wal-Mart pleads guilty to dumping hazardous waste)</p>
<p>I was happy that my kids lived in a dorm freshman year, as the transition to college was a huge change for them and for our family, the more so for being first gen, I think.</p>
<p>Youngest moved off campus sophmore year, which concerned me, but she seemed to manage taking care of herself ok, even without a car- although biking in northwest winters leaves something to be desired. She still doesnt have a car, but is more centrally located and enjoys going to the saturday farmer market to buy fresh produce.</p>
<p>I dont see living off microwave meals as any healthier than dining at mcdonalds everyday.
You are what you spend your time on. If you cant take the time to nourish your self properly physically, will you make that effort toward spiritual & emotional nourishment?</p>
<p>I guess we can just turn on the television to see what the most popular shows are to answer that.</p>