<p>I stumbled onto the hot topic section of CC, essential "life skills" parents neglected to teach child.</p>
<p>I'm just not sure if this is an example of over parenting or under parenting.</p>
<p>I'm shocked to read parents post about their college students not knowing how to mail a letter, make a long distance phone call, how to leave a voice message or how to take a pill.</p>
<p>Here on the prep school forum I've read about high school kids navigating their way through international airports, call a credit card co. to report a lost card. At least most of our kids will know how to do their laundry before college.</p>
<p>This confirms to me that BS really helps our kids get ready for college or is it that our kids already know how to think on their feet?</p>
<p>Guilty as charged… I shamefully admit that DS went to BS not knowing how to use snail mail. He didn’t know where on the envelope to write the sender’s & receiver’s addresses.</p>
<p>We discovered our parenting shortcoming when he had to mail a thank you card to a dear aunt who sent him a care package.</p>
<p>On the bright side, DS can navigate international travel involving 3 changes of planes.</p>
<p>@GMT…don’t feel bad about the thank you card. My DS came back from camp a summer ago and let me know one of things he had learned at camp was how to post a letter. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t taught him how to address an envelope. Thumbs down to email! Misery loves company.</p>
<p>I also read this thread on the college forum and was dumbfounded at how ill-equipped some college students are to handle mundane tasks. I remember being taught in elementary school how to do such things as write letters, address envelopes, make change, and answer the (landline!) phone politely. Seems e-mail, calculators, cell phones and other technologies have removed kids from having to learn some very basic skills. Not long ago, a friend related how her daughter had burned her hands rather badly by removing a sheet of cookies from the oven wearing only clear plastic food gloves–she’d moved into a three-person apartment at college and had never taken anything hot out of an oven before! Guess we’ve lost a lot of other skills with the disappearance of home ec, etc.</p>
<p>On the other hand, our kids seem to learn how to type via osmosis. Every kid can type, but I don’t see typing courses at the the local high school.</p>
<p>I think one critical life skills area where many “kids these days” are grossly deficient is the kitchen. I supervise a senior high youth group at our church and at one fundraising dinner I asked a kid to open some cans of cranberry sauce — he looked at the manual can opener I handed him like it was from another planet, and had no idea how to use it.</p>
<p>BTW, I loved the OP’s concept of “is this over-parenting or under-parenting?”…in the case of my can opener, it’s a “two-fer”.</p>
<p>My DS is <potentially> learning all sorts of new life skills, just in the course of 2 weeks at BS! It kind of reminds me of the ‘There’s a Hole in the Bucket’ song:<br>
Son: My laundry is dirty (dear mother dear mother)
Mother: So wash it
Son: I have no money on my school card (which is what the machines take)
Mother: So put money on your card
Son: The machine won’t take my dollar
Mother: So get a nice crisp $20 with your new ATM card - I’m sure you’ll need it!
Son: I haven’t made it to the school post office to get the card</potentially></p>
<p>So many life skills to learn right there! by the time he gets to college, he will be so ahead of the game!</p>
by the time he gets to college, he will be so ahead of the game!</p>