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AIBU?

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Original poster

To ask how much you could do round the house at 21?

160 replies

StupidMistakes · 08/12/2013 23:05

Did you
*Know how to use the washing machine?
*know where the fuses were?
*Know how to reset the boiler?
*know water has to be paid for?
*Know how to wash up?

Three of the above things are acceptable not to know but seriously my flat mate at 21 didn't know how to use a washing machine, where the powder went or the difference between fabric softner and washing powder!!!

OP posts:
DoYouLikeMyBaubles · 08/12/2013 23:06

I did all those things - I lived on my own from being 17. I'm 22 now

Ridiculous how at 21 they can't do it. If not it's not hard to learn, you just try.

fuzzypicklehead · 08/12/2013 23:09

I lived in a flat, so I could certainly wash up and do the laundry and pay the bills. I didn't have access to the boiler or fuse box, though.

What do you mean by "reset the boiler"? Do you mean change timings, etc? Because if it's something other than that, I still don't know how!

JadziaSnax · 08/12/2013 23:09

All of it, I bought my home at 21 with by then DP (now DH). We moved in together when I was 20.

MrsTerrysChocolateOrange · 08/12/2013 23:09

I lived alone/with flatmates from 18 too so all of that. Maybe not the boiler.

Have you read all those threads where people say that children are children and shouldn't have to do anything?

JadziaSnax · 08/12/2013 23:10

Tsk, I meant my then Dp, not by!

gallicgirl · 08/12/2013 23:10

All of them but could understand if a person didn't know how to change a fuse.

DirtyDancingCleanLiving · 08/12/2013 23:10

Yes, by 21 I did.

Dh and I moved in together when I was 18 and he was 21 however. Dh had lived on his own since he was 16, so was fine with these sorts of things.

Me on the other hand...I had absolutely no idea how much things cost (gas/leccy/water/counciltax), no idea how to wash, clean, cook (even the most basic of things). I can remember wanting to cook dh a meal one night and had to phone my mother to ask her how long to cook a bit of meat and potatoes and what the hell I had to do with a swede.

I grew up and had everything done for me, so barely learnt anything. I am determined that that will not be the same for mine, so I'm already teaching them the basics.

Mim78 · 08/12/2013 23:11

I was a bit crap at 21 so not much point asking me!

I still don't know where the fuses are or how to set the boiler (I'm 35).

gordyslovesheep · 08/12/2013 23:11

I could do all of that - I left home at 17 - but even before then my mum, working lone parent, made damn sure I could manage on my own !

usualsuspect · 08/12/2013 23:13

I had my own house and a child by the time I was 21

So yes I could do all of them.

BohemianGirl · 08/12/2013 23:14

Owned my own house had my own mortgage back then

phantomnamechanger · 08/12/2013 23:14

not knowing how to use a particular washing machine is OK, but they are all similar so you'd expect them to have some idea! some households never use conditioner/softener so that's excusable too IMO - especially since there are plenty of liquid detergents, they might not realise its a different product.

parents are doing a bad job if 21yr olds living away from home don't know those things though. My 13 yr old knows where the electricity mains switch and stopcock are, and how to load and set the washing machine.

and how can you not know how to wash up - dirty pots = get them clean? is it hard??

LaFataTurchina · 08/12/2013 23:14

All of those in my student house, we had a dodgy boiler that frequently had to be repressurised.

By fuse do you mean the fusebox for when the lights go? Because I can flick that back up but I still wouldn't be comfortable actually changing one.

(I'm still not entirely sure how you bleed a radiator though)

chirpchirp · 08/12/2013 23:15

moved out at 17 and could do all of the above other than reset the boiler as moved into a shitty flat with shitty storage heaters. I have since moved and now know how to.

ChrisMooseMickey · 08/12/2013 23:15

I moved in with DP when I was 19- got our own place at 21. And I know how to do all those things.

I always, always remember a friend that I visited in his second week of uni (we were 18), telling me that he didn't know he had to wash towels. He thought his Mum bought new ones every week. I was Shock

Hmm couldn't quite believe that one...

newestbridearound · 08/12/2013 23:15

I could do all of those except the fuses- to be honest I'd still struggle with that a bit now! But I was living independently from 18 onwards and knew most things about cleaning, cooking, practical matters etc.

jammiedonut · 08/12/2013 23:15

All of it, same situation as Gordy. Mum was a working, single parent and needed us to be savvy around the house should something go wrong and she wasn't there.

ITCouldBeWorse · 08/12/2013 23:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

fanoftheinvisibleman · 08/12/2013 23:16

Left home a month after my 18th and never went back, so all of it!

aquashiv · 08/12/2013 23:16

I could do all of that at 18. Now I have a man a dishwasher and high box so I look for many ways to avoid such menial tasks.

Bunbaker · 08/12/2013 23:17

Did you
*Know how to use the washing machine? - didn't have one. Went to the laundrette instead. So yes
*know where the fuses were? Yes
*Know how to reset the boiler? Yes
*know water has to be paid for? It was part of the rent
*Know how to wash up? Of course

enormouse · 08/12/2013 23:18

Yes I did. I was carer for my grandparents who I lived with since I was 3.
My indian dgrandma was illiterate and after my grandad had his stroke needed me to translate for her and pay the bills and deal with her letters.

I could do most things round the house by 14/15.

MammaTJ · 08/12/2013 23:18

I was a single parent when DD1 was 9 and I broke my ankle. It was a severe break and I was basically not allowed to move much. I rang SS and asked for help but was told DD could cook a meal, empty my commode and put a wash on. TBH, she knew how, I just was not prepared to use my DD in this way, especially the commode thing.

She is now 18 and lives with her DF and is very capable.

Bunbaker · 08/12/2013 23:18

I knew how to wire a fuse. They weren't these things that you push back in nowadays. You needed to replace the wire. I also know how to wire a plug. In those days electrical items were always sold without a plug.

FredFredGeorge · 08/12/2013 23:18

But water doesn't have to paid for in a lot of the country still (well it does obviously, but it's not by usage) But yes, by 21 all of that should be well understood, indeed by ~16 you'd expect it...

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