A friend’s son did not realize that funds in a checking account run out. He was treating it like a credit card. What did your child not know before going off to college?
Apparently, on the second day of a Technical Theatrical Design course, the professor was giving the students a tour of the lighting system and asked how many had ever changed a light bulb. Not a single hand went up. When our son told us this we felt we had failed as parents–all of us.
There is a “How many college freshmen does it take to change a light bulb” joke lurking in there somewhere.
Well, perhaps it is different for theater lighting people, but our light bulbs last so long now they hardly ever need to be changed, so I can understand that one.
Life is a learning process - my son is 23 and I am trying to convince him that it will not be cost effective to move the (mostly Ikea) furniture in his studio apartment across the country. He will figure it out in his own time.
My son was about to leave for a semester in New Zealand. He casually mentioned that he had lost his debit card. I asked him how he had been getting cash and he said he just showed his student ID at the bank in his college town. He thought he was going to be able to do the same thing in New Zealand.
He also cracked me up when he moved halfway across the country for his first job. He and I went shopping for a mattress on Saturday. He was to start work on Monday. He asked the store if they could deliver the mattress on Sunday, the next day, but they couldn’t. They suggested Monday but he knew he’d be at work on Monday. So he suggested Tuesday. I had to remind him that work wasn’t just Monday; it was going to continue every day for the foreseeable future.
:-??
Cook. I was never allowed to use a stove or oven, even at 19 or 20. I left my parents house for Job Corps, and non-culinary didn’t cook there. I didn’t learn anything about cooking until I was 22, and I still know little.
D1 didn’t know that bigger/heavier envelopes require more postage than one stamp. She applied for some internships (this was about 6 years ago, apps not online). She sent off the materials in large Manila envelopes, and then they started coming back with “insufficient postage” stamps. Ironically, one employer paid the extra postage, and then hired her! Some people live a charmed life…
That having pets can cost a LOT of money… and there’s usually some heartbreak along the way.
My sons were taken back when they got their first paychecks and saw how much was deducted for taxes. Their attitude about “free” government services changed at that time.
Ds1called me from a doctor’s office his first semester in college, whispering. “Mom, I wrote a check for his copay, and they gave me the check back. What do I do.” I told them that 1) he should ask them, not me 1,000 miles away, and 2) they’re probably doing an electronic transfer. This from a guy who had just spent the summer working at a bank.
My daughter is applying for summer internships. One employer whom she was emailing with asked her to please remember to cc a second person from the company. She asked me how to do that.
I’m reading through this list…my daughter has probably never changed a lightbulb or figured out postage. Will have to get on those.
But she DOES know how to go see her Dr./NP/PA and give her medical history, allergies and history of the chief complaint! And she knows all about how a deductible works whether it is for health, home or car insurance. I can’t tell you how many kids have no idea how to see a Dr or NP/PA on their own and they have zero idea how their healthcare insurance. Of course, I realize that I may have taught her all of this but the firs time she tries it on her own she may have an epic fail!
Just two weeks ago DD discovered how easy it is to add windshield-wiper fluid to the car – especially when their’s a jug of it in the trunk. Her mom coached her through it by cellphone.
Can you post your wife’s phone number? 
I’m fifty and I still don’t know how to do that.
My DS cannot tie a bow tie, sew on a button or match socks to the rest of his dressy outfit (oops, he claims that is “the style” right now). We will work on all of these. I am sure there is more.
@carachel2, when D2 had to go to the urgent care within walking distance of her campus (cut herself, right after campus health services closed for the day), she couldn’t even find the front door of the clinic. 
She texted me, and I looked at the building on Google satellite to direct her. She did manage to handle presenting her insurance card, etc once she got inside.
@intparent …now that’s different! Sometimes those clinics are tricky with multiple entrances.
Also I wanted to add: I can’t even begin to tell you how many high school and college aged girls have to call or text their Mom to figure out the answer to the question :“when was your last menstrual period?” So funny!
Embarrassed to admit DS did not know how to clean a bathroom. Freshman year, had shared bathroom so it never came up. Then had a suite with BR as sophomore. I asked him how he cleaned it and he said “I googled it.”
- Writing an address and return address on an envelope. 2. Typing a (business) letter.
I remember having business class in high school (with typewriters!) and having to learn how far down an envelope to start the address, where to put the date on the letter, when to indent, etc. When my daughter writes a thank you card and addresses the envelope, she rarely puts the info in the appropriate area (e.g. way too low, squished too far to the right, etc.). We’ve gone over it each time but since it’s only done a few times a year, she never remembers. Drives me crazy!!!
Another lack of “real-life” awareness: My daughter is way too reliant on her GPS when driving. One time, she was looking for an office and called me several times because her GPS said she was at the office but she couldn’t see it. I asked her the address she was looking for and she said “2500 Main” and then I asked her where she was currently and she said “2100 Main”. I told her she needed to go 4 blocks further. It was interesting to me that she couldn’t figure out from the address how to get to the right building.
And, @riverboat, which side of the envelope to put the stamp on! Also directions: my daughters are good drivers but one of them especially gets flustered when she’s driving and can’t find her way.
On the other hand, there are the things I didn’t know about real life until my children went to college: what a person who has been drinking smells like (what can I say, I’m not a drinker!); that pot and alcohol are just the tip of the iceberg as far as controlled substances being used by young people; how to get a ride on Uber, Lyft, or Sidecar; how to use a cellphone.