Had to teach D the difference between gas and electric stove- burners stay hotter longer. Also has to keep reminding her to not put hot pans on the dorm’s laminate countertops.
Turning off the water would have helped my D on a school trip- one of the girl’s overflowed the toilet in the hotel room and then they all ran out of the room- without the key!
Recently many members of my family went to a funeral and stayed together at and AirB&B, which was an older home. My 25 year old niece had no idea how to make tea, as there was no electric tea kettle.
My nephew’s girlfriend suggested she use the electric coffee pot without coffee in the filter. My mother taught her how to boil water on the stove.
There was also a microwave.
The world is in big trouble if an honors grad doesn’t know how to boil water.
@twoinanddone - I just spit out my drink :). I’m convinced the only reason my kid knows how to boil water is from chem lab.
When I was newly wed, my husband, super smart engineer/MBA/ivy league, asked me how to tell when the water was boiling…He’s still mostly banned from the kitchen.
“However, reading this list is also making me anxious! I fear I’m going to spend his first semester of college lying awake in bed every night !”
Well, the truth is that as a parent you don’t sleep as well when your child isn’t sleeping under the same roof as you. It is just a fact!
I don’t know if this was mentioned previously, but today I told my daughter to make a thank you note for a gift her grandmother sent her, and she told me she didn’t know how to send mail 
. It’s the little things that will surprise you. I told her I hope her community center, where she picks up her mail, might have a stamp and an outgoing mailbox.
Check and see if the washers are HE or regular and use the right detergent for the machine. You can make package ramen with a boiling pot and a rubbermaid hard plastic container with lid. Just put the ramen in, cover with boiling water, add the lid and let sit for 10 minutes, then add the spice packet. You can also microwave in those containers.
We’ve slowly been teaching D19, and by extension S23, to do their own laundry, manage their money, make their own appointments for doctors, hair stylists and advocate for themselves with teachers, doctors, world. Still need to teach them how to make their own flight arrangements, navigate the airports starting from ticket agents to TSA to delayed or cancelled flights. Also important, tucking away an emergency $20 somewhere. Just in case.
The emergency $20 reminds me that they shouldn’t have all of their IDs and credit cards etc. in one place. When one of my daughter’s friends had her backpack stolen she was left with no ID and no money. Tell them to keep that emergency $20, their ATM or credit card, and their passport/IDs back in a safe place in their room and only carry the minimum ID/money which they need day to day. For my daughter, she only carried around with her - her college ID and a small amount of cash - which allowed her entrance to everywhere, the ability to get food (dining hall meals), and a way to pay for stuff on campus. She left her drivers license, ATM and credit cards, emergency $20, and passport back in her dorm room. She would take her license with her only when she needed proof of age (her campus was in a city so she never drove) and take her ATM card only when she needed to use it.
She basically still follows this advice (2 + years after college graduation) and only carries the stuff she needs when she needs it.
There are microwave ramen cookers. We got one at Walmart, black rectangular open container made from special plastic.
I think I taught my kids most everything they needed to know prior to graduating from high school:
Basics: laundry - both started doing their own at age 10, S cooking (D no interest), lawn care, first aid/CPR (both scouts), advocating for themselves, financial budgeting
More important: to be kind, to be on time, to treat school like a job and then keep those good habits, don’t judge others, dress appropriately for the occasion and for D to dress modestly, to write thank you cards, bed early-rise early, spend more time outside than on electronics, eat minimal sugar foods (no soda, etc), limit medications, honesty.
What they don’t use: D still can’t cook although she does attempt it at times. Refuses to do yardwork but can budget like an accountant. Really doesn’t get enough exercise. S loves to cook, isn’t very good with the thank you cards and has started relying on fiance for financial budgeting and social calendar more than I would have liked. Keeps in shape.
Both are very kind, have great work ethics, dress nicely, consider sleep a priority and are honest. Both are learning to advocate for themselves pretty well.
@NEPatsGirl About a week ago I was having a late night talk with D19 about treating school like a job. That by far was my biggest mistake I made in school. I was last minute on everything and wasted so much time on nothing special. I told her to find a good study spot out of the dorm.
If D19 takes her car with her we will have to go over more car stuff in greater detail. I don’t think she can do much other than put gas in the car and make it a mess.
I wish I had taken the kids to car service appointments so they knew how to handle those.
Just thinking through the phone conversations I’ve had with my older two, there’s not much that couldn’t have been handled over the phone, but I’ve had to explain where to buy stamps and how to ship a laptop back to the manufacturer for repair, how to handle various types of medical problems and appointments, including one in a foreign country, writing checks, how to file taxes, and all manner of cooking, cleaning and laundry questions, although my kids left for college already doing their own laundry, clean, and cook to varying degrees.
After all the things you do remember to teach them, they’ll still have questions or things they encounter you never thought to explain, but that means they call home once in a while!
We’ve always told them if they ever find themselves in real trouble, we will help first, lecture later., and they can always always always call home and ask for help.
As soon as you can, start having them take care of their own business while at home: making phone calls for dr. appt, going to the pharmacy for OTC meds. How to take care of a cold and worse, the flu. I made S a kit that had ramen (easy to make), lozenges, Kleenex, Sprite, bottled water and cold/flu meds with written instructions. Believe me, he used it.
calling AAA (if you have it) - both of my kids had to use it at least twice. If flying, how to handling delays, schedule changes, REROUTED flights! (D’s flight was rerouted through North Dakota due to weather conditions.)
Here’s sort of a silly thing - I have a health care debit card, and provided cards to my Ds. There was a “miscommunication” about what was covered and my college senior somehow heard “toiletries” (i.e. feminine hygiene) instead of “over the counter.” After I saw a few random Walmart charges, we had to get that squared away.
The point about AAA reminded me. After my car accident, I made sure DS had our insurance app downloaded on his phone and showed him where to find the roadside asst. That will do all sorts of things from sending someone to jump your battery or bringing you gas, to calling the police or ambulance… it’s all free and you don’t even have to remember a phone number! Just hit a button in the app!
I wish the parents of the millennials who live in the other apartments in my house had been taught how to keep track of when the garbage, etc has to go to the curb (and to put the side with the bar facing the street so the automated arm can grab It)
@lilmom. Last year my D2 grad student phones in a panic; her car stalled in the middle of an intersection. I asked if she had her AAA card with her (gift previous Xmas from me, and I guess my explanation was ignored). D2: “My what?” Now she understands it very well.
I made sure that she had already mastered:
Signing in to doctor’s office and always having insurance card handy
Checking in for flights and going thru security
Laundry (had already been doing for years)
Driving (no car, but Zipcar rental on campus).
Light cooking
Food shopping
Use of ATM and CC
One more life skill that is important given that a lot of kids are going to cold weather schools is to make sure that they are prepared with the right type of clothes.
A therapist could find at least a dozen clients from this list. :))
how to do laundry, how to write a check 
the importance of going to the gym or exercising, sitting on the front row so you cannot skip, how to get your oil changed and where to go, being polite (yes ma’am and no ma’am and yes sir and no sir) being on time, following through and not procrastinating.