I write very very few checks. Lawn guy and cleaning lady and sometimes I pay them cash. Neither are such a big amount that I’d be in trouble if they cashed them months later.
I have not balanced my checkbook in years! 
I do keep track of the occasional checks I write and make sure they get cashed… that is all. I do not think the kids remember how to write a check… might need a refresher. 
I have several checking accounts, and one of the business accounts has a minimum balance to avoid a fee, and I move the money from one account to another and pay bills portionally from some of the accounts, and the credit card company takes monthly fees from one of them, so I do balance 2 of the accounts to be sure to avoid a fee. Some I don’t bother with. And I am pretty sure DH doesn’t balance the checking accounts attached to the investment accounts.
I know how to change a tire, but I jump up and down on the lugnut thingie and nothing ever happens. Luckily men always seem to magically appear to help. (I’ve only had flats a couple of times.) My flats have always been on city streets. Our car came with one of those small tires you are only supposed to use till you limp to a station. DH replaced it with a full size tire.
“Tangent, but if you don’t balance your checkbook in some way how do you know when something hasn’t cleared timely? I’ve had to reissue checks to the lawn guy (who hadn’t noticed he hadn’t cashed one), and once a check I wrote cleared someone else’s account (discovered when I called the recipient to ask if there was a reason they were holding it). I don’t write a ton of checks, but even so, I don’t think I’d have remembered what was outstanding if I didn’t mark the cleared ones and carry forward some record of what hadn’t yet cleared.”
Haven’t balanced a checkbook in a decade. I don’t write any checks. I either zelle pay, Venmo or have chase send a check ( they will send to anyone) . This means that all the money I pay out is on my Chase account. If the person Chase writes a check to doesn’t cash it, the money goes back into the account after 90;days. There is literally no reason for me to ever balance my checkbook.
My kids have never written a check. I suspect they will never ever need to
Holding doors: Are we talking about handing the door back to the person behind you, standing to hold the door for someone with a bunch of packages, or that gallant deal where you hold the door open with a flourish and tip your hat to m’lady?
Cursive vs printing: When my son switched to public school, he only had cursive for one year, and I felt that he could use it because it’s faster. But he beat me in every race where we wrote the same passages together so I couldn’t argue. My Mom (Palmer Method gal) could’ve kicked his butt, though.
I have never changed a tire, my driver’s ed teacher said that there was not enough time to teach us. At this point I would rather call AAA and wait.
And, calculus teaches logic. I think logic is an important thing to learn, though I never took calculus. There are other ways to learn it, an intro to philosophy course or a programming course can also teach it. I happened to take a programming course and that fulfilled the requirement for my college and I didn’t have to do the calculus.
@suzy100 , that’s what I was going to say…balancing a checkbook. With their banking apps and everything digital, this is fast becoming obsolete. But I DO make sure they know how to write a check, after being at the post office and watching a college student humiliatingly having to ask the postal worker how to write her check for her passport. And of course that they know the principle behind balancing a checkbook, as in knowing what is outstanding and how not to overdraw.
Interesting story about tires and AAA…my son had a flat this winter and I had AAA replace it (it was at our home, as it became flat on his drive home). They fixed it and he drove off to bowling practice, and about 1 mile from home the tire came completely off, he lost control and crashed into a light pole. The pole fell and the older car was totaled. We were incredibly lucky that he driving 25 mph on a residential street with no other cars, parked or otherwise, or pedestrians. This could have been deadly if he would have taken another route and been on a busy 4 lane road. (The subcontractor’s insurance did pay for it all). So beware, or maybe double check or oversee any tire replacements! We heard many a similar story when people heard what happened to us (not just AAA).
Why do people think that they’ll blow their tire is some place that is conveniently close to a 24 hour service center? While changing a tire on a highway can get you killed, so can standing next to your flat tire for 1.5 hours waiting for AAA. It takes 20-30 min to change a tire. If the lug nut is stuck, you jump up and down on the lug wrench (on the handles that are used to turn it, of course).
I have changed many a tire, of various sizes, in my life, and it has always been far more convenient than waiting for a technician. My D should know how to do so it as well. Well, first she should finished learning how to drive…
Many cars have a spare which is not full size. That is true for both our Mazdas.
I do not care whether my kid knows anything about football, or any other sport. I do not care whether they know about the private lives of celebrities.
Always carry a spare. AAA doesn’t carry tires. You’ll be towed to the nearest station or somewhere closer to home if you have AAA plus.
If not and you’re not near your home and it’s a Saturday afternoon. You’ll be enjoying a nice weekend getaway off the NJ turnpike waiting for Monday. And the Uber bills. That will cost more than the spare or replacement tire.
Have AAA plus. And have the emergency roadside service with a less than year old car. But I have considered getting a spare (there is an aftermarket kit in a “cute carry bag). But then I have to be sure the tire places know where to put the jack so as not to damage the EV battery. Several recommend printing the page front he online manual. I fear that sounds pretentious, but I really do worry about this stuff!
I can’t imagine not using cursive or balancing a checkbook, but I have no idea how to change a tire. And I’m on board with the no-calculus folks.
Most flat tire incidents that I have encountered were noticing a flat or low tire while the car was parked in a parking lot. The one noticed elsewhere was because it was a newer car which has a tire pressure warning light in the dash; there was plenty of time to go some place where there was safe parking to change the tire.
Obviously, if you have a quick blowout on a major road and cannot out off the road into a safe parking place, you do not want to change the tire in an exposed location. However, I did once hear and see a car nearby get such a blowout; the driver slowed down and took the nearby off-ramp, presumably to park somewhere safe.
Instructions should be in the owner’s manual for the car.
I don’t think it is as important to know how to change a tire as it is to know what to do about the situation.
Stay with the car? Go for help? Drive on the tire and rim? Try to change the tire?
My sister couldn’t (and can’t) sew a button on a shirt. In the days when she wore dress shirts to work every day, she’d just take them to the laundry and they’d sew it on for $1. I find it more convenient to just sew one on, but her way worked too.
Rather than teach my kid to write a check I’d rather teach them to research “ What will I need to be able to get a passport” before going to get a passport. If a check is one of those things they can google how to do it which will teach them in two minutes. I’d rather teach be prepared for life’s situations, something that they need all the time rather than a skill that will, in their lifetimes come up possibly a few times maximum.
Rather than teach them the very outdated skill of balancing their checkbook I taught them the importance of monitoring their bank accounts including making it a part of their daily routine and setting up alerts.
Haha @maya54 , along those lines, research “how to renew your driver’s license” now that states are rolling out the new licenses. It’s pretty complicated, at least in my state!
Re: Cursive and being able to read it
“By the People” volunteers for the Library of Congress have transcribed 26,585 letters and completed (a.k.a reviewed) 4,662 of Lincoln pages in just over six months. Many of your transcriptions are published on loc.gov, and more will appear later this month!
Add me to the list of those who have never changed a tire. We’ve had a lot of flats over the years. AAA was always available. I figure if I HAD to, I’m smart enough to be able to read a manual (I hope). However, one funny story… Once, my tire completely shredded driving in town. Fortunately, I was able to pull into a restaurant parking lot. Out came a car racing pit crew that just jumped into action to save the mom with two young kids. It took all of those guys at least half an hour to get the thing changed. They had to take turns working it, and for awhile they weren’t sure if they could get it off. I didn’t feel so bad never doing it myself after that
A couple of years ago our car engine (still under warranty) died on the way to the beach in the middle of nowhere. The engine died the day it went on recall. AAA was able to tow it to the dealership, but there were no car rental places anywhere around. We called the beach Hyundai dealership who claimed they couldn’t do anything for a loaner. Long story short, my then 19 y.o. S got frustrated listening to me and told me to let him try. He called them and told them that they WOULD help us, would not listen to their excuses, and lo and behold, our loaner was waiting for us when we got there. He is good with such things. I’m glad he has that skill. I do not.
And I’m also glad that both of mine learned cursive!
Earth Science. Lumping various subjects together just because they have something to do with the earth makes no sense at all. All science has to do with the Earth. Jump right into bio, chem or physics then go deeper if you want. Don’t have kids waste a year studying this nonsense. How many geologists do you know? Astrophysicists? But you probably know many people who have a background in bio, or chem or CS. This course is especially bad when it is used as a back door to politics. If it’s taken by choice that’s fine but not as the Freshman mandatory science course.
This is a recent thing. Earth science used to be learned in middle school. Why, because it can be learned in about three weeks not a year.