Dear Dr. Laura,
I am a college senior who moved out on my own for my last year of undergraduate. I am lucky enough that my parents live close enough to my University so that I could live at home for the first three years and save on housing expenses (they let me pay "rent" by running errands, cooking, and cleaning for them). Now that I'm on my own, I love it! I feel like an independent adult managing my own time, budget, and schedule (which makes me think I'll be a great SAHM someday!). What I don't understand is why my roommates and most other friends have such a hard time keeping their life in order? I mean, I just moved out 7 months ago and am doing much better than the people who have been out of their parents' house for four years!
As I was sitting last night snuggling with my puppy, I was trying to figure out why the simplest things for me seemed so hard for them. The tasks they can't manage include:
-Doing laundry
-Cooking simple meals
-Hanging a picture
-Cleaning a toilet
-Using a credit card for things that they can actually pay off
-Using coupons with sale items to get the best price
-Using a map to get places, not just relying on a GPS
I don't mean to make myself sound overly intelligent, or to put them down, but doesn't this list seem like basic common sense? Well, I've come to the conclusion that common sense isn't common to everyone you want to know why? It's because my parents loved me enough to live in a small house, with minimal material items, clip coupons, and understood that my mom staying home with my sister and I would be the best decision they could've ever made. My dad always put us before work and was at every dance recital, school concert, and parent night. My mom taught me basic house skills, problem solving, and responsibility. I was not stuck in a daycare only for my parents to pick me up, feed me dinner, and put me right to bed. I know my parents inside and out, and they know me the same way.
If I were put in day care, I would not have my "common sense", because it is not something you are born with it is taught. All of these things only seem simple to me because my parents spent time with me and taught them to me, and that beats a big house, material items, or extravagant vacations any day. I'm so grateful that my parents had the common sense to raise me this way...I wonder where they got it from...?
-S.
P.S. I can't wait to be a SAHM and pass on the same common sense to my children!
