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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My elementary schooler is supposed to do their own laundry? I didn’t until college and I turned out just fine.[/quote]

Same. This thread is pretty fakey/tryhard.[/quote]

Really?  This is what seems fake and try hard to you?  Granted I'm a 90's ki, but my siblings and I were all taught laundry at 8  . I remember going to college and being amazed there were people who were 17/18/19 years old and had no clue how to work a machine.[/quote]

Again, you can teach the kid that in 12th grade. [/quote]

College Laundress PP, this is just getting kind of circular.

You can teach a kid to cook on the stovetop in 12th grade, and not before. You can teach a kid how to navigate the Metro/bus system in 12th grade, and not before. You can teach a kid how to plan a meal and shop for groceries in 12th grade, and not before.

These are all things a parent can do FOR the child before then. Arguably 1) without missing out on too much like they would if you waited until 12th grade to teach them to ride a bike or use a microwave and also 2) that they have use for before 12th grade (vs how to open a PEPCO account or whatever).

But most people teach these things well before age 17-18, because it's pretty... natural to at least start teaching these things before then? It doesn't need to be or feel forced. Unless you firmly believe a child should be waited upon hand and foot until 17-18, you can teach these things bit by bit without it being "try hard" or "fakey." You probably agree they should do some chores, right? Laundry is such an easy one, a useful one, one that is pretty separable and naturally occurring, so to speak. E.g., it would be silly to have your kid be responsible for planning and buying just the household's produce in a separate grocery trip or something, but doing 1-2 loads of their own laundry from their own hamper is pretty self-contained and logical.  And unlike some busywork sorts of chores, reduced laundry actually relieves parents a little bit.  [/quote]

NP here. This reminds me of the ongoing disagreement between me and my MIL. My dd is 10 and can do most of the recommended things (not some of the outdoorsy ones like fishing though). I believe that by teaching her to do useful and helpful things and expecting her to have a share of the work in our home that I'm raising a capable adult which I don't believe happens overnight. My MIL thinks that childhood should last as long as possible and that all of these things can wait until she's on her own, but I can't imagine sending a woman-child out into the world without having any realistic knowledge or practice of how to manage and a huge sense of entitlement that everything should be done for her. I love her more than I have good words to describe, but I'm not going to be her maid.

Kids like to have a sense of pride in work well done, too. I'd add to the ongoing list (sorry for any repeats I missed):
- bake a dessert
- know how to hand-sew a button and repair a rip
- use a sewing machine
- help a young child with something
- help an older person with something
- have a pleasant conversation with someone significantly older or younger than they are
- manage an allowance
- light a match
- build a fire in a fireplace or fire pit
- treat a small injury themselves, like cleaning a bleeding scratch and putting their own bandaid on
- change bedsheets
- identify local plants, birds, insects, etc.
- recognize signs of seasonal/weather change[/quote]

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