Moody Monday: Adulting 67

I think all adults, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity should be able to adult.  To have the basic skills to take care of themselves, to be self sufficient.  Here are a few things I think everyone should be able to do, even if they don't like to do, and rely on someone else to do, we should know how. 

Cook, I am not going to ask you to do anything complicated like make the perfect fried egg (Gordon Ramsey has been known to test applicants for jobs in his kitchen by asking them to fry an egg.) An omelet or scrambled eggs are much easier.  Everyone needs basic knife skills, something I had to teach myself.  How to make a basic soup or stew (or curry) there are a billion options, other than getting the spice way off, you really can't go wrong. Boil pasta, make mashed potatoes.  Bake a simple cake, make pastry and bake a simple pie. 

I learned the basics of cooking from a grandmother who was not a very good cook, who worked hard to learn the basics, and taught me in a way that was very forgiving. There were no mistakes in her kitchen, no one right way to do anything.  

To shop and maintain a basic kitchen pantry.  Having learned to cook from someone who survived two World Wars and the great depression, I learned from someone who knew how to stock a kitchen.  Keeping the basics on hand, allows you to do so much. 

Do your own laundry.  I lived alone a few summers in early adulthood, and had to learn how to do my own laundry.  The first time I was married, my soon to be ex, did my laundry once, by stuffing three loads of laundry into the machine at once.  Only once, I returned to doing my own laundry after that, and I still do.  

Sew on a button.  Assuming that you wear clothing that has buttons, you should be able to sew on a button. The biggest challenge today, is finding a replacement, when I was growing up my grandmothers would gather clothes that were being discarded, and cut the buttons off into their button box.  Sewing a button on is not hard to do. 

Write a letter.  By hand, address the envelope, put postage on it, and send it off in the post.  It is a simple skill that I fear is being lost.  

I use to think, write a check.  I was talking with a college student recently and I asked, "do you write checks?" Her answer was that she has a few times, but had to ask her mother for help. Perhaps this is a skill that will no longer exist.  I am down to one account that I am stilling paying by mail.  Oh, and my taxes, the County wants to charge extra to pay online - so I still mail checks.  I guess this is being replaced by being able to check our online accounts, and set up direct payment (something I have learned to do.) 

Shop for and buy clothes.  I am surprised by people who have never bought clothing, their mother did, then their spouse did (this is mostly a man thing.) I have known men who never bought underwear or a pair of shoes for themself, someone always brought it home for them. 

Clean house.  Dusting, vacuuming or sweeping floors, washing floors, scrubbing a sink, cleaning a toilet. This is something I don't like to do, and don't do as often as I should, but I do know how to do it.  If forced to do so, I wouldn't need to learn or live in squalor.  

What else should an adult know how to do?