What did your kid not know about "real life"?

Parent Cafe
21

@riverboat, the same kid who couldn’t find the clinic door often has the envelope upside down when she addresses it. And I saw an envelope she sent to my mom recently, and she put the address on, but not my mom’s name.

22

Related to my comment above: in real life, it’s sometimes okay to ask “strangers” for assistance. For example, when my kids are alone at airports and trying to find something, I’ll try to help from home by looking at an airport map, but it’s probably more effective for them to ask someone who seems to be an airport employee.

23

My kids are still unclear about the idea that electricity costs money.

24

After a year of nagging I final got Son to agree to get a doctor in his new city. He proudly reported to me that he called several but they were all closed. It was a Saturday.

25

Were we this clueless at their age?

26

I’m still trying to process the never having changed a light bulb thing.

I’m only a few years older than those students and I really just can’t wrap my mind around that. The other things I can understand- especially with mailing and postage- but light bulbs? Not ONE had ever done it? I didn’t think there was that big of a technology gap between me and undergrads.

ETA: I was a theater techie in high school and was the head of lighting for 3 different plays. We weren’t allowed to change light bulbs for safety reasons so I can understand never having changed one in a theater…

27

He didn’t know his social security number or how to deposit birthday/xmas checks from his grandparents into his checking account. I had always deposited them for him…

28

My son was mailing a valentine card to his gf freshman year and had to ask the person at the post office how to address the envelope.

I don’t even want to think about what isn’t being cleaned in the kids bathrooms at school.

29

I’m 19 years old and I don’t know anything. Most replies in this thread boil down to “everybody wants your money,” so that’s what I try to keep in mind. Here are some things I’ve learned in college, though:

  1. How to unlock a door with a key.
  2. Bedbugs exist, are impossible to get rid of, and give off a sweet smell when you smash them.
  3. "Split ends" in hair are literally split ends.
  4. [url=http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01419/wafer_1419861c.jpg]This[/url] is not Styrofoam.
  5. Public buses don't stop just anywhere you want. They stop at bus stops.
30

Recently returned from a two week vacation abroad with my 2 college kids. Husband and I are well traveled but I have to say that traveling with our 2 young adults was VERY helpful. They are great, seasoned travelers and were more adept at navigating language and cultural barriers than we are in our 50s.

We did realize that neither can drive a car with manual transmission well and thats something we’ll work on with them somehow. It’s a good life skill to have, especially if you travel a lot.

31

^Be sure to click on @halcyonheather 's link. It is hilarious.

32

D is still struggling with whether Pyrex and plastic are the same for microwaves.

33

My D went on her first business trip and I was irrationally worried that she wouldn’t know how to get from the airport to the rental car place (it was EWR where there is a monorail that takes you there) or figure out how to rent the car and get to her destination. Heck, I get turned around in New Jersey! But she did fine! Whew!

I didn’t ever cook til after I was out of college. Why would I have cooked in college - that’s what the dorm cafeteria was for.

34

S has just learned how to order something on my Amazon account and have it sent to him at school instead of sending it to me and having me mail it to him 1200 miles away.

35

S didn’t realize that if he presented his insurance card at the pharmacy, he’d pay less for his prescription medication (which was first prescribed for him in his freshman year, so he hadn’t had experience with prescriptions, insurance and copays before). He paid full price (not astronomical, but still…) all last year. Then just last break, he needed a refill while home, and the subject came up. Turns out he hadn’t ever printed the card they’d emailed him and had no idea that all that money I’d paid for the college’s health insurance plan could actually save him money.

36

Then there was the time S1 rented a car at the airport, carefully noted the address he’d have to return it to, and used his GPS to get back to that address. He didn’t realize he just needed to go to the airport and follow the Rental Car signs. He wound up driving all over creation and approached the drop-off location from the rear.

37

One of mine called me from college because he didn’t know how to jump his car…nor did anyone on his dorm floor. I could not believe that we had never taught him how to jump a car with a dead battery and I was floored that no one on his floor knew either. What the heck? I coached him through it on his car and he successfully got his car started. I also called the other two to make sure THEY knew how to jump a car.

38

My daughter has become an expert at dealing with French walk-in medical clinics. She now conducts her sick fellow American students to the clinic, explains their symptoms in fluent French, complains politely to the receptionist if the wait time seems unfair, and helps them get their meds at the pharmacy.

But she believes that if she can find a bottle of luxury shampoo at Lush for “only” 19 euros, it is a real bargain.

My son can get himself to and from the airport on the shuttle, arrange a new flight when the old one is cancelled, and pack a bag more efficiently than anyone I know.

But when he’s out of allergy medicine or dietary supplements, he can’t walk a half mile to CVS to get them. Instead, he informs me after he’s been home on break for a few days that he is out of Zyrtec.

39

@Youdon’tsay I think most of us just figured things out as we went along, and that some kids today still do, coupled with simply observing others and the things around them. My D knew how to address and stamp a letter by looking at mail coming to the house. Seems obvious. And it took her a single time at the ATM to figure out how to use one since the screen walks you through what to do. Cleaning-even if a family has a maid (we don’t) all one has to do is WATCH one for 5 minutes to know how to use a sponge. So I think some kids must just not even try.

But for anything she doesn’t know, D Googles it. So do her friends. She taught herself how to sew a simple seam, how to make French toast, and other household tasks that way-before I could even help her. For her period, she has an app (there’s an app for everything, I swear). She can do hair (including cut, color, and style) as well or better than any place I’ve ever gone-all learned from Youtube. I’m really hoping that when she leaves next year no ordinary task will stump her.

40

I don’t think my kids have ever sewn on a button. But to be honest, even though I know how to, it costs $1 to have the drycleaner do it for me.