Before You Leave the Nest…

Feb 26

This week, one of our co-founders provides a little insight on things to think about as
your kiddos get older and prepare to fly the coop!

When our oldest left for college, we joined the MOST HILARIOUS Facebook group ever- her university’s Parent’s Association page. I’m fairly convinced most of the posts are fake, and created to make most of us parents feel good, because there is no way parents can still be doing so much hand holding once their adult children are out of the house! Or is there…? These posts have become an endless source of entertainment for me and my husband. “Did you see the post about the mom asking how her kids pays for laundry?!” Seriously, endless entertainment. One of today’s posts was actually really funny in an, “I can totally relate”, way, and it inspired me to put together a list of, “Things to make sure your kids know before they move out”. The post basically asked, “What life skills did you forget to teach your kids before they headed to college?” The catalyst for her post was her son calling her from the gas station to please bring him the gas card, because he had forgotten his. Mom asked if he had cash, son said yes, but wondered how that would be helpful, because there was no way to pay for gas at the pump. She had to explain he needed to go inside. Makes total sense, right? How often do you actually go into the gas station and say, “I need $10 on number 3.”? We just pay with cards now- I’m fairly certain my kids have never seen me pay for gas with cash. And yes, I realize that $10 of gas is basically two gallons now. Remember when it was eighty-nine cents? Those were the days. Anyway, that post prompted the best responses and entertained me all day! For me, there was a tie for first place between, “My daughter had to watch a YouTube video to fold up the iron” and “My daughter/son doesn’t know how to address an envelope.”

As a PSA to parents everywhere, and especially for those of you with younger kids, here is my list of things to teach your kids
before they fly the coop.

Before Your Kids are Out of the House:

Make sure they know how to fold an ironing board…and iron. (I’m pretty sure we failed at this one..)
Teach them how to fill out a check
Teach them how to do laundry. Once they do move out, make sure they know how to pay for laundry, so you don’t have to post on a parent board.
Apparently they need to know how to pay for gas inside the gas station. (I’m not sure I remember how to do this!)
Remind them that calling is still the best way to get things done most of the time. (Thanks to my husband, our kids have seen this first hand many times.)
Have them memorize their social security number. You’re welcome.
Let them order for themselves at restaurants from the time they can speak. You may have to translate their little kid speak to your server, but let them try.
Get them used to being the ones who communicate with their teachers, coaches, etc. Again, you may have to intervene, but have them try to get it done. We had a great example of this the summer before our middle daughter’s freshman year of high school- She needed to switch some classes around, and with some coaching (and cheering), did it on her own, and felt so accomplished after.
Make sure they know how to correctly address an envelope.
Manage money. (We also failed at this- playing catch up now)
Know how insurance works, and how to make doctors’ appointments.
Change a flat tire/jump a car. (Sure, we all have AAA, but this is still a good skill to have.)