You parents know exactly what I’m talking about:-) As examples, not putting metal in a microwave, or not knowing what to do after a fender bender. Or how about not knowing how to write a check or where to get postage stamps? For those of you with HS kids, there is still time to teach them this stuff or rather walk them thru it (that was my failing…I had told DS what to do in a car accident, but I didn’t go thru it with him step by step “on the ground” and he panicked when he couldn’t get a hold of me on the phone! I don’t EVER want that to happen again. I want him to be confident and know exactly what to do! Anyone else?
There was a thread on this maybe last year. Will look for it.
My son, a college freshman, called to tell me that there is a reason the Lunt trap in the dryer needs to be cleaned regularly – his dorm dryer caught fire!
Also, he really had no clue how to take care of himself when he had a cold. I guess I always just handed him his OTC meds when he was home. I wasn’t so crazy after all when he realized he had what he needed in his first aid kit I put together.
Oh good if there was a thread last year…I must’ve missed it as I was on here last year! If you find it please do post:-)
There was this thread but it doesn’t really include surprises of something your kid did after the fact…but a good list as well.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1738170-last-thing-to-teach-your-senior-before-he-she-leaves-for-college-p1.html
Which side of the envelope to put the stamp on. But I discovered, after my kids started college and after their father (now my ex) left me, that there also were many things I didn’t know how to do.
An adult in my office put metal in the microwave yesterday. Just saying.
This might be it http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1674306-oops-forgot-to-teach-my-child-how-to-before-going-off-to-college-p1.html
Here’s another thread.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1868658-what-other-but-everyone-knows-this-things-have-i-failed-to-teach-my-child-p1.html
My D didn’t understand that you can’t just look up a doctor and go to their office. Luckily, she decided to call me from the office before going in when the receptionist asked for her insurance card. The doctor was out of network so I spoke to the woman and they agreed to cancel the visit with no charge. Oy, can you imagine paying OON for a gyno visit, which is supposed to be free!
^^^No student health service at your daughter’s school? That’s where I went when I was in college.
How to snail mail…
^^^Same. Son didn’t know how to address an envelope or which side to put the stamp on.
^^us too! D texted me about how many stamps she should put on envelope as she was mailing it from out of state.
My daughter’s grade school did alot of practice mailing. They sent letters to pen pals at other schools. Wrote letters to the mayor thanking her for coming to class etc…Plus she went to overnight camp for 7 years and sent dozens of letters home. She definitely knew how to address and stamp a letter.
But what has surprised me is that she has not sent one piece of stamped mail since she got to college. Not one. She pays all bills online, including rent. She sends e-mails on a regular basis of course and sends things back from Zappos and Nordstrom (UPS) but stamped mail. Nope. Never.
You didn’t need an insurance card for the student health center at her school. She didn’t know that you did needed one when you went to a real life doctor. Now, I’m working on getting her on her own insurance…
I went through that last year. H’s and my insurance changed and S1 could not stay on it without paying a lot extra. So he had to go on his employer’s plan outside of open enrollment. Lots of paperwork and hassle but we got it done.
D had to take a friend to show her how to use an ATM. She had to call us to get the PIN.
There was also this thread, http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1790883-what-life-skills-should-a-kid-have-by-the-age-of-16-p1.html, but I found many of the parents’ suggestions comical.
My kids are a) pretty smart; and b) don’t feel uncomfortable calling me to ask. What’s the best way to order textbooks? Is it OK to use Venmo? Can you help me figure out the cheapest way to get to X? I use all of these as teaching moments, so they can absorb the relevant skills/knowledge for the future (see point a).
My son did call my wife and ask her for her help in buying a present for a young woman when he was a sophomore in college. My wife asked what was the occasion. It took a little prying but he’d slept with one woman. He’d been interested in her roommate for a while but the roommate had had a BF. He learned a) that the BF was no longer in the picture; and b) she was interested in him. Shortly after the first liaison (the next day or within the week) he slept with the second one (who became his GF for 1.5+ years). He wanted to give a present to the first one. My wife said, “No present is going to solve this problem.”