"But when it came to changing a tire, filing taxes, or even cooking something beyond boxed mac and cheese, there were glaring gaps. At first, we treated these as one-off lessons. Tire pressure gauge flagging you? We walked them through the process of airing it up and checking the air pressure moving forward. Fast food uniform a bit smelly? We walked them through the process of washing the shirt to remove the grease."
"But soon we realized it wasn't just our kids. Their friends - college students, part-time workers, even young adults already in the professional workforce - were just as unsure. Our house quietly became a hub for "life hacks." One week, it was a conveyor belt of teaching the newly employed how to file taxes. Next, we tackled grilling burgers. The pattern was evident: young adults weren't lazy or disinterested; they just hadn't been shown."
"As a young bride, I spent an entire year "washing" clothes with Snuggle fabric softener, never realizing it wasn't detergent. The first time someone explained the difference, I wanted to sink into the floor. But it wasn't a lack of effort - it was simply a knowledge gap. I had parents who showed their love by doing things for me, which was fantastic - until I needed to do it myself."
A couple discovered their three young adult children lacked basic life skills such as changing a tire, filing taxes, and cooking beyond boxed mac and cheese. Initial lessons addressed individual problems: checking tire pressure, washing greasy uniforms, and using a weed eater. The couple's home became a hub where friends and young workers learned practical tasks like filing taxes and grilling. The pattern showed that lack of skill stemmed from unfamiliarity rather than laziness. Personal anecdote recalled a year of using fabric softener as detergent, illustrating that caregiving often involved doing tasks instead of teaching.
Read at Business Insider
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