For fun: What life skills do your teenagers lack?

[Anonymous]

My 21 year old stepdaughter called me about April 11th this year

“So I haven’t done my taxes, should I just skip it this year”


No. No you should not

[Anonymous]

Small talk. I’ve been trying to indirectly teach ds how to ask open ended questions, without having him realize I’m helping, and it’s not working.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 21 year old stepdaughter called me about April 11th this year

“So I haven’t done my taxes, should I just skip it this year”


No. No you should not

LOL. No. Definitely bad idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine have an unreasonable amount of trouble reading a grown up's handwriting. Card from Grandma--hey mom, what does this say?

Same with mine.

you can thank the elimination of cursive in schools for this.

[Anonymous]

Basic sewing. Neither one of my kids could sew a button back on a shirt or a pair of pants.

Ironing. They have never ironed their clothes because the vast majority of their clothes are wash and wear. When the (rare) need arises to have their clothes ironed, we're usually in a rush so I take care of it for them. I know I need to teach them. Maybe this summer.

Making a fire in the fireplace.

Using a carpet steam cleaner.

Painting a room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Small talk. I’ve been trying to indirectly teach ds how to ask open ended questions, without having him realize I’m helping, and it’s not working.

My daughter’s conversation skills are terrible too. They’re fine with her friends, but no one else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine have an unreasonable amount of trouble reading a grown up's handwriting. Card from Grandma--hey mom, what does this say?

seriously!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:15 and 17. They do laundry. Can sort of/ survival cook.

But writing an email in a semi-professional circumstance? I have to walk them through it.

-- The email thing was important to me, so I started training him on that in high school. a complicated illness made it easy to find opportunities to practice because he had a ton of communication with teachers to accomplish. He is in college now but sometimes checks in with drafts. It is good he knows the importance of getting feedback on drafts and I look forward to the day it isn't from me.

His missing life skill is "how to decide when not to be ridiculously frugal." He gets himself into trouble by not spending money he has (or we would happily spend) when he should -- like for a meal when he is stuck at school due to flight issues but the cafeteria is closed, or paying for computer repair.

[Anonymous]

I definitely need to teach my 14 yr old DS how to iron this summer. He has been doing laundry since he was 8 or 9 but I quickly iron anything that needs it. He knows how to address an envelope but the address is never straight. He also has trouble reading cursive but I think that ship has sailed.

[Anonymous]

Driving a stick shift

[Anonymous]

Cutting an onion. DS (14) attempted this recently and did it all wrong.

Neither of my kids seems to know how to hang up a wet towel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My teen has ADHD and his problem is planning ahead.

This is not an ADHD thing. This is normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So much for my ADHD child. Namely organization and awareness. Organization is a must in life, and awareness is a must for important things like driving. Both worry me a lot.

Again normal.

I'm an adult without ADHD and am not organized. I bet I too could go to a doctor and get some amphetamines!

[Anonymous]

Anyone else think a "life skills" camp would be highly profitable?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else think a "life skills" camp would be highly profitable?

Even just Home Ec how it used to be. I learned basic cooking skills, how to make a complete meal including a cake for dessert. We sewed stuffed animals and had to make a pair of boxer like shorts, we sewed the buttons on by hand.