"I can't cook" or "I don't know how to sew"

[Lace Neil Singer]

I read an article in a magazine once that was about the shocking amount of young adults who leave home without having the faintest idea how to look after themselves. They can't cook, sew, use a washing machine, do basic housework and in short, don't know how to maintain a house or flat. This is simply cuz a lot of parents don't bother teaching their kids the basics when they live at home, and/or do everything for them.

My parents taught me how to do most things while I lived at home. My mother taught me how to cook and how to sew while I was still at primary school. Even before I learned properly to cook, I still was encouraged to help in the kitchen, and so were my brothers. It beggars belief that young adults can leave home, and not know how to do anything. Much as the parents might like to blame schools for scrapping lessons like Home Economics and Textiles, it's not the schools' responsibility, it's theirs.

http://www.theguardian.com/education...n-leaving-home

This article is aimed at students, but it really applies to every young adult leaving home, whether they're going to university or just moving in with a boyfriend/girlfriend or getting a place of their own. The sad thing is, that most of these tasks aren't difficult to learn. Hell, if I as an eight year old could learn quickly how to sew on a button, I don't think any eighteen year old is going to have much trouble.

[siead_lietrathua]

that's what home ec class used to be for. learning life skills. but some school don't teach it anymore, or it's considered the "girl glass". >.<
as for at home.. well, my parent's never really taught me any of it beyond "these buttons turn the stove on". i had to pick it up from cooking shows or trial and error after watching them do something.

though they might just be cursed. i can't bake. it constantly burns. homer simpson lighting the cereal on fire? this girl.

[KellyHabersham]

I'd have to go with part of the problem being parents not teaching their kids/doing everything for them........supposedly one of my aunts was doing her son's laundry for them when they were in college, and with another cousin, she's in her 20s, and only recently learned how to use the washing machine and dryer.

[Lace Neil Singer]

My parents taught my brothers how to cook and sew, and use the washing machine, same as me. In fact, my brothers are all fantastic at cooking. XD

One of my friends never had to do anything at home; the first time she used a dishwasher, she put washing up liquid inside it. O_o Imagine, a kitchen full to bursting with bubbles and foam...

[violiav]

I can sew button, but that's about it. I've just never had very much interest in learning how to sew (the way my mom does, costumes, wedding dresses and such). I can bake a super tasty dessert though.

[Greenday]

I can't sew. My cooking skills are lacking but I can do enough basic stuff to survive. My mom did most of my laundry before I went to college but I at least knew what I was doing. Every year it blew my mind how people didn't even know how to work the machine. I have friends in their early 20s who still don't do their laundry.

One thing I'm still not sure about? Writing a check. I can count the number of checks I've written on one hand. One for my car, one for my sister, one for school. I NEVER use checks as there's never a reason to.

[sophie]

My sewing is very basic just buttons, patches and hems. I have friends that only know how to use a microwave. Everyone will have strong and weak points, my tandoori chicken is perfect but my scones aren't.
This is most likely the number one cause of obesity now, in the grocery store you'll hear people asking how to cook an avocado or if it's safe to eat bread made with yeast. Sadly many of them would rather eat a bland mushy microwave food lump than bother to learn, everything you could ever need is online just waiting to be used.

[lordlundar]

It's funny, my sister is a nightmare in the kitchen and requires a recipe to follow or whatever she cooks turns out a mess. I on the other hand cook out of hand without issue and usually leave the kitchen in better shape than when I started.

[Greenday]

everything you could ever need is online just waiting to be used.

Youtube. I learned how to iron stuff from a half-naked chick on youtube. I'm not sure why she was half-naked though.

[Ginger Tea]

I lost all inclination in preparing and cooking food when I would find most of my ingredints gone by the time I needed them, shared kitchen shared fridge doesn't equal shared food.
We got cooked meals at work, basically left overs of what we shipped out and as I had the surplus stock it was my task to cook it, basically I just put it in a Regen oven and hit start and walked away for an hour back to my job, so for 9 years I didn't need to cook at home except for my days off and those ended up being lazy days and microwaves, now what little I could cook has gone the way of the brain cell dodo.

Most of my clothing was dirt cheap to begin with so any thing that gets a bit too tattered is cheap enough to replace and I got a dozen £3 Tesco jeans that when used in a cycle probably lasted a lot longer than I expected them to.

[Kheldarson]

I can do basic repair sewing, but I'm a mess in the kitchen. Burned three pancakes today as proof.

[Jetfire]

In Junior High, back in the 90's we had a Workshop and Home Ec class, and I loved the Home Ec more than the Workshop ones. Everyone had to take them, so there wasn't as much of a "Girls Stuff/Boys stuff" stigma with it.

Between those classes, I learned the basis of everything I needed to:
* Basic sewing, including using a sewing machine, not that I've used one since then.
* Metal working, including spot welding.
* Cooking and baking (something I've expanded on since then)
* Wood working, nailing, screwing, cutting, shaping, etc... something I've also expanded on since then, but not as much as cooking.
* Decorative/artistic crafting; things like cross stitch (which I loved though haven't done since) and toil painting and other things.

In High school, you had the option to take more classes in that if you wanted to, but I went a different direction from either of them. But I'm very thankful that I had that basic foundation laid in Junior High.

While I doubt I'll be able to make my own clothes from a sheet of cloth, I can repair simple tears and sew buttons back on at least. (But even hemming pants, I'd sooner take them to the local tailor shop, just to have it done right. )

I always found it somewhat strange, that while cooking is seen as a "Girl's task", Chefs, especially famous chefs, tend to be male dominated. Hopefully that's changing in both directions, (more women becoming famous chefs, more men taking up cooking as another task, not just a 'girl's job'), but it seems it's just becoming more "Burn boiling water" than anything.

[KitterCat]

It doesn't surprise me. I've helped friends of hubbies learn how to do basic sewing. Small stuff like how to sew a button back on. Repairing small tears in cloths before they become major tears. I've offered to teach friends how to use their sewing machines, but have yet to actually have anyone take me up on it and mean it. The ones who figure it out do it on their own, before I can come over. The others never set a date. I tell people you dont need to know all the stitches if all you want is to get buy with basic repair, but loosening buttons shouldnt mean you throw away a shirt.

Ive gotten better with cooking. With hubbie over the road Ive had to cook more often. Its not that hard, and keeps me in budget. Plus my sons eat better that way. A lot of its experimenting or cooking shows. I cant believe how much I learned from watching Good Eats with Alton Brown.


As for laundry thats just lazyness. The instructions are on the machines. How hard is it to read them?

[Andara Bledin]

This isn't a new thing, just more obvious since we encounter more and more people in our daily lives and it's slightly less crippling as a result.

My boss had a college roommate with a helicopter parent; the girl couldn't go a single day without calling her mother for help.

My ex had a mother who did everything for him until he turned 18 and then expected him to know how to do it all himself despite her never teaching him a damned thing. That and other idiocy left me with zero respect for that woman.

My mom, on the other hand, taught us how to do every basic chore imaginable, because once we knew, she no longer had to be the only one responsible for them.

[Bloodsoul]

I could certainly stand some sewing lessons to, at the very least, repair my trenchcoat that has portions held together with paper clips.

Youtube. I learned how to iron stuff from a half-naked chick on youtube. I'm not sure why she was half-naked though.

I, uh, need to go learn how to iron stuff… yeah…