Life skills

[TheChosenTwo]

Thought I’d pressed create on my previous one I did but it’s disappeared…
Taking dd in a minute to go and buy a light bulb, she said she didn’t know how to get it out so I showed her. She also said she wouldn’t know how to put a new one in. So she’s going to drive me to the shops (getting some practise in before her test!) and Get a new one and put it in.
She’s off to uni this year. What other things might be useful for her to know?!
She can sew on a button and make basic clothes alterations, cook a basic meal and some more elaborate puddings, can hoover and clean a bathroom, does her own washing and drying etc…
Change a fuse? Do fuses need changing anymore? I’ve never changed one and don’t remember dh doing it since we lived at this house (14 years! Maybe he just does it without me knowing…)
Anyway, I was just wondering what might be useful to show her before she goes!

She sounds pretty well set up tbh.

Maybe food hygiene- what to be extra careful with, how to tell if things are off. More cookery skills always useful.

Computer skills she might need for doing/ handing in work

Changing a bed

Cleaning the hob/oven (although not sure our student oven ever got cleaned…)

She’s bloody militant about food hygiene, she’s petrified of mould and things being out of date! It’s other peoples things going mouldy in the fridge that she’ll be most concerned about
She does want to learn to cook more and I’m happy for her to have a go.
I think she’s okay with her Mac, I’ll check with her but both the dds are far more tech savvy than me or dh.
She changes her own sheets at home so no problem there.
Oh, I don’t think she’s ever cleaned the hob though, i’m more than happy to delegate on this one

And thanks for your suggestions

Budgetting, setting up dd online, managing finances
Kitchen hygiene, defrosting fridge, checking smoke alarms

I’m embarrassed to admit that when I went to university I didn’t really know what a credit card was or how it worked! My bank, where I’d had a savings account since I was about eight, was throwing student credit at me. I didn’t understand the whole thing about only paying off the minimum each month meaning that the balance would quickly increase with interest. I suppose I was a bit financially spoiled and sheltered at home. Your DD may be much wiser and more savvy than I was!

How to flip the switch on the fuse box if the electric trips.
How to read the gas/electric meter.
How to turn the stopcock off and where it may be located (under the sink etc).

Great thread! How to get in the attic. How to wrap a gift.

Basic first aid and helping someone who has drunk too much.

Two things that foxed my student DS were putting a stamp on a letter and the requirement to cook white fish....

First aid skills!

Changing a wheel on a car, when to call the police, what to do if there is a fire (have an escape plan, what to do if can't escape etc), financial planning, how to spot a scam, basic first aid (end her with a first aid kit).

How to use washing g machine, dishwasher etc (including the bit about not putting g washing up liquid in!). Stain removal.

Cleaning a toilet/bathroom

Budgeting.

When to be assertive not 'kind'

How to read a meter.

We have this book its great, probably not for your dd but for anyone reading this thread with 10-16 year olds.

How to:

Change a plug
Turn off the electricity/gas/water
Bleed a radiator
Repressurise a boiler
Take a meter reading
Energy saving tips eg phone chargers still draw power when not in use, as do things on standby
Checking bank statements/budgeting
Loyalty cards
Reading and understanding contracts/T&Cs
Basic knowledge of laws/rights relating to property rental
Checking smoke alarms
How to reset a fusebox
Odd one off cleaning jobs like washing machine maintenance hot wash cycles
Backing up computers etc

I forgot to tell mine about limescale (we live in a soft water area).

How to hang new curtains.
When DS was stuck in his student flat (private rented) during lockdown, he had a problem with damp in his room and had to throw away the curtains as they had gone mouldy. The managing company wouldn't send anyone around due to Covid but said they would get a blind for the window. This of course didn't happen and I doubt DS would have been able to fit a blind so I ordered some cheap curtains to be delivered directly to him (thankfully he had a steel ruler in the cheap toolkit I had bought him one Christmas). I was going to instruct him how to draw the tape (pencil pleat) once they were delivered. Unfortunately they arrived a day early. DS opened them and pulled the tapes - without tying a knot in one end first!! I then had to post him a large eyed needle so he could rethread the tape.
So curtain hanging skills will come in useful for adult life IMO.

Lots of good ideas here, thanks!
I’m not sure of anything to do with curtains whatsoever - we have wooden shutter blinds in every room of our house, no curtains anywhere 🙈 - perhaps if there is a curtain based drama I shall send her some of those portable black out blinds you have for travelling with a baby
She’s very ‘book smart’ but has atrocious common sense. First aid kit is a really good idea.
Not sure she’ll be needing to know where the stopcock is in halls? Again, I don’t know where my one is at home! Never needed to look for it - I’m sure if I needed to know, I’d locate it though…
Will sit down with her and talk through the budgeting side more carefully before she goes, she manages her money quite well at the moment but I can see she’s the type to get drawn into 30 ‘low’ direct debits and then not understand why she has no money! She’s another who’s been quite financially sheltered at home, we pay her phone bill and buy everything she needs etc (which I think as a full time student with parents who both earn is the right thing to do), she spends her money on things like clothes and going out. Oh, and has just booked herself her first ‘grown up holiday’ so she’s paying for that too! Although we have paid to renew her passport.
@PennineWayinSlingbacks I haven’t posted anything with a stamp (or otherwise to be fair!) in YEARS! I’ll get her to post someone a birthday card.

Not sure she’ll be needing to know where the stopcock is in halls? Again, I don’t know where my one is at home! Never needed to look for it - I’m sure if I needed to know

Ah did I miss the bit about staying in Halls obviously that rules out most of my advice. But I think maybe you should find the stopcock in your house, you never need it really apart from in an emergency and when thir is water cascading through your ceiling you dont want to be starting a game of where is the stopcock!

How to talk on the phone - not everything can be done online, and it was a big deal for my young teen to phone up and ask for a replacement piece of clothing in a different size, then package it up, know how to send it back pre paid etc.

How to shop for food for a week. Not all micro meals either!

She won't be in halls forever and she won't be taught stuff like that during that time, so might as well set her up for when she leaves halls.

@Hellocatshome I didn’t actually mention that she’d be in halls, my error! But yes, I’ll ask dh where it is so if anything happens when he’s not here I can at least turn it off.
And yes to a pp, she will at some point need to be able to do these things for herself or at least locate things in the house!
I reckon some shit food is par for the course when you’re living away from home for the first time 😂 she eats very well at home, we cook proper meals and don’t buy ready meals or jarred sauces etc. she does love a takeaway but I’m hoping she’ll work out pretty quickly that cooking will be cheaper in the long run and far healthier!

I find the mn housekeeping forum really helpful because people post solutions to real lifeissues. I've picked up lots of household and cleaning information on there.

Honestly...the biggest life skill is resourcefulness.

Figuring out how to do things without your DM's help.

For example, she could have quite easily used Google to figure out how to change a lightbulb or just had a go and figured it out on her own.

You won't be there with her, so encouraging her to be resourceful is the best thing you can do.

There is a massive lack of resourcefulness and it hugely impacts on people's careers as those who are resourceful can figure shit put themselves and don't need spoon feeding (or expect to be spoon fed).

*figure shit out