It’s not just young ones! When H and I were in our twenties, we took a vacation to France. After a week, we needed to do laundry, so he went off to a laundromat while I called ahead to our next location from pay phones (see? you can see how dated this is). I said repeatedly to him - do you need my help? Oh, no, don’t insult me like that. Long story short, he took the bottle of Woolite and instead of pouring in a tiny capful, poured in an entire cup (as if it were regular liquid detergent). I came back to the laundromat and the whole place was basically flooded. Suds everywhere.
That story of doing the kid’s laundry while at college seemed a bit over-the-top to me until I remembered the thread about the dad who came to empty his daughter’s potty-box in her dorm room every week because she had issues using public bathrooms.
What’s a potty box?
What my kids DO know about real life: it’s always okay to phone home, whenever they have problems. (Other calls are good, too, of course.)
Yes, what is a potty box? =))
Please don’t explain.
Book ordered.
Okay, we should all feel good that our kids know how to use the toilet.
Had some fun looking at adulting books this morning. I also want to recommend “Help! My Apartment has a Kitchen!” It’s an older book but still in print. I got it for my son so he wouldn’t die of food poisoning after he told me some tales of his housemates and his own kitchen disasters. (Orange juice needs to be refrigerated??). Although his youngest sister does have more kitchen experience, I got it for her too for next year…just in case.
I found out, over the summer, that my 17 year-old thought that, when paying for a restaurant bill with a credit or debit card, that you should leave the tip on BOTH the card’s charge AND leave the cash tip on the table. So, she was double-tipping. And so were her friends! I’m sure the wait staff at I-Hop loved them!
After posting about ds1 didn’t know how electronic transfers work, I would like to come to the defense of millennials everywhere and congratulate my kids on knowing things that I know nothing about, like how StubHub works. He just sold some concert tickets on there for more than double the face value – he listed them, they sold and the money is in his account in less than 12 hours. I doubt I would have gone that route, but what a piece of cake!
There are just different kinds of smart/knowledge, right?
^^^My S said to me, “I just Venmo’d the money, so it’s all set,” and I said, “What?”
Just read through the whole thread.
My D knows how to sew, because her older sister, my stepdaughter, was a Theater/Costume Design major. She taught D how to use her sewing machine, as well as how to sew - and embroider - by hand. At one point in elementary school, D made little purses out of old blue jeans and scrap fabric for all of her friends.
I’ve tried to teach her some cooking basics over the years - she can make pancakes from scratch, cookies, and biscuits. She knows how to sauté vegetables in oil, how to make spaghetti with olive oil and garlic. She’s also made bruschetta. So I don’t worry about her being able to cook, either…
I’m really not sure if she knows how to change a light bulb, or not!
@Youdon’tsay, same with my daughter and Venmo. My coworkers have never heard of many of the commercial apps that my daughters use.
I once used the term Venmo in a conversation with ds1 and his co-worker and fiancee, and the co-worker said, “You are so hip for a mom.” I swear, that one compliment sustained me for about three months!
I never felt much responsibility to teach them every little thing…they were intelligent and resourceful, and able figure it out. It’s easy to learn to make a bed, do laundry, or pump gas. Of course, if they asked how to do something, I would gladly tell them.
Well, my son learned how to shovel snow this past weekend! (A Texas boy in New Jersey!) When my D moved into her 1st house “up north”, I took her to Home Depot and purchased her some rock salt and a snow shovel. She thanked me later.
My kids can change light bulbs, but I’m not sure they know how to buy them, what the difference is between a 25 watt bulb and a 75, why there is a difference, and what happens when you use a 75 watt bulb in a lamp that has a maximum of only 25.
My daughter learned a lot when she had her first job at a fast food place. I noticed that she started cleaning up after herself more at home and when out as she knew that there weren’t magic elves who wiped tables and threw away the paper straw covers, who picked up the trash if someone missed the can, who mopped the floor when sodas were ‘accidentally’ spilled.
The real question is if they don’t know how to do something, can they figure it out?
I barely know how to buy light bulbs any more…
For those asking about the box-potty/box toileter, here’s the thread:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1679432-phobias-and-dorm-life-p1.html