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Easy College Meals to Prepare in Advance
CollegiateParent
We call it Adulting 101. These are the basic life skills that all kids should learn and know. Skills that are not innate but need to be taught.
Adulting 101 encompasses the skills that my husband and I believe are essential for our children to learn so that they can go on to become independent, responsible young adults. Lessons that will help them to be organized, thrifty, and self-sufficient. He and I can be role models and lead by example, and we do our best, but actions speak louder than words — there are many instances when we need to actually show our children important how-to's.
We had good intentions for years to teach the children various life skills. But you know how it goes. Life gets busy. Life gets hectic. "Next week, we'll get around to it," I solemnly swear to myself. The week passes. "Over the summer, when they're not in school," I vow. "We'll do it then!" At last, with a captive audience, the lessons began. New skills were learned, sometimes willingly and sometimes not, and at times laughter erupted.
Here's our curriculum!
The first course we conducted was Cake Baking 101. Sure, it was from a box. However, there were plenty of skills to be taught: preheating the oven, greasing a pan, measuring the oil, cracking open eggs, cooling pans on a rack, and actually following the directions. All excellent skills to acquire. It was messy, it was fun, and the kids got to enjoy the finished product.
We went on to making pizza (not frozen), rolling out dough, and then adding sauce, cheese, and favorite toppings. We experimented with thin crust, thick crust, personal pizzas, and more. We got lots of laughs with flour getting into places it didn't belong (hair), and we teased each other about misshapen pizza. (Making them perfectly round is more complicated than some think!)
Other Kitchen Basics included baking chicken, creating omelets, making pancakes and French toast, and even things as simple as cooking rice and pasta. Do not assume your teen or young adult knows the lid should stay off after the pasta goes into the pot of boiling water!
This course includes changing the oil in the lawnmower, mowing the lawn in straight lines, seeding, mulching, fertilizing, and raking leaves.
Basics include removing your dirty shoes before entering the home, choosing older clothes for dirty jobs, avoiding poison ivy, and doing the chore with a smile (or at least not a scowl).
Extra credit for this course: Building raised planting beds from old wood pallets, filling them with soil, planting vegetable seeds, and tending the garden.
This class covers the basics of emptying pockets before washing, separating darks from lights, how much detergent to use, and the various washer and dryer settings.
Essential skills include: emptying the lint screen after each use (fire safety), putting clothes in the dryer promptly (so they don't mold), folding right after drying (so they don't wrinkle), and putting them away where they belong (so you can find them when you want them).
Parental reminder: Completing this course is no guarantee that what is taught and learned will be fully executed.
Important primary car care is covered in this course, such as: replenishing windshield washer fluid, putting a snow and ice scraper in the car for winter, keeping an emergency kit in the car, adding air to the tires, cleaning the vehicle, paying attention to when the inspection sticker is expiring, filling the gas tank and being aware of what type of gas goes into the car.
It also helps to know what to do if they get gasoline on their skin or clothing because it smells and can irritate their skin and cause rashes. The skin should be cleaned immediately (another good reason to keep a package of handi wipes in the car). Additional cleansing with lemon juice or vinegar at home will remove the odor. For fabric, apply a mix of white vinegar and hot water before washing with detergent in the machine.
Auto Care 101 also includes reminders to pay attention to dashboard warning lights and report them promptly to the parental units.
This introductory course provides the basic fundamentals of cleaning, such as what products to use in the bathroom to clean the toilet, the shower, and the tile floor. General kitchen cleaning involves loading and emptying the dishwasher, sweeping the floor, and what to use to wipe down countertops, sinks, and the table.
The course also covers where the vacuum is kept and how to use it (straight lines preferred and not smashing into baseboards and furniture legs).
This class offers instruction and hands-on practice of threading a needle, knotting thread, sewing on a button, and using a running stitch or back stitch to fix a hem.
This course is a prerequisite for Sewing 201, which teaches sewing machine basics such as threading the machine and winding a bobbin.
Just a few of the 100-level courses coming this summer: Budgeting/Money Management, painting the deck, and cooking on the outdoor grill. You can probably come up with a few ideas of your own!
When it comes to enrolling in Adulting 101, your children may be annoyed, or they may be willing participants. Either way, as they learn new skills they'll need for life on their own someday, they'll feel empowered and self-reliant. If they don't thank you now, surely they will thank you later.
My own family got a late start — however, it's never too early or too late to begin teaching Adulting 101!
Here's the extra credit project!
Photos courtesy of the author.
