How good parents really are nowadays?

[MontyVeda]

By that I mean : do parents really prepare their children for adulthood? When I see my own children with their own children, I often ask myself that question. My grandchildren have a the materialistic things they can wish for and all the love parents can give them but when it comes to practical things in every day life, their lack serious skills .
- they can't cook.
- they don't know how to look after their things.
- they can't do simple things like cleaning their shoes.
- they expect everything to be done for them.
I love them dearly but I wish they were taught how to stand on their own feet from an early age and not rely on parents to do it all for them. I was, but then it was a different era.

Are you sure about this?

I mean... what do you mean by 'they can't cook'... is that 'they can't feed themselves' or 'can't make soufflé' ?

Are you absolutely sure they can't clean their shoes? it's not rocking horse science after all. Maybe they're just really really thick

your OP sounds like a grumpy old man ranting rather than an accurate portrayal of today's youth.

 

[Milkfloat]

Well OP, I agree with you. I cannot even get my kids up the chimney to clean it, never mind down the pit for a proper day's work. in my day blah, blah, blah.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I have two sons, the eldest lives in a bedsit and works as a cleaner in a local factory, is more than capable of looking after himself, but not to proud to ask us for help if he's in trouble. The youngest is married with a 3 year old daughter, they live in a council flat and he works nights in a local supermarket, like his brother he's more than capable of looking after himself, and his family, but will ask us for help if he needs it. I love them to bits and I'm proud of both of them, its wonderful to watch the loving care my son gives our granddaughter. No they're not perfect, but neither were we, like most parents we did our best, now my son is doing his best for his family.

 

[Tin Pot]

Kids of today!

Blah, blah...

When I were a lad, we would count ourselves lucky to be whipped to sleep...etc.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

The day my children were born was the day I started planning that they left as soon as they could; I don't care if they are up to it or not, just that they left.
1/1 so far, not too long befoe the 2nd hopefully does likewise.

 

[gavroche]

Are you sure about this?

I mean... what do you mean by 'they can't cook'... is that 'they can't feed themselves' or 'can't make soufflé' ?

Are you absolutely sure they can't clean their shoes? it's not rocking horse science after all. Maybe they're just really really thick

your OP sounds like a grumpy old man ranting rather than an accurate portrayal of today's youth.

Being over 65, I am now a fully qualified grumpy old man but only on certain things and when it suits me.

 

[vernon]

Being over 65, I am now a fully qualified grumpy old man but only on certain things and when it suits me.

But you appear to be beating a lonely drum.

 

[Wafer]

As ever xkcd has covered this kind of thing https://xkcd.com/1227/

Perhaps some parents didn't raise their kids to raise kids

 

[derrick]

Most parents will never admit that they got it wrong. As you can see from the post above.
Getting it wrong does not make you a bad parent. We are all human (apart from Blazed) so we all make mistakes.

 

[ColinJ]

My father was so frightened of his father that he didn't tell him that he had been messing about on a roof and had fallen off. The injuries sustained made him lose his appetite so he told his mother that he didn't want to eat his Sunday dinner. My grandfather flew into a rage and grabbed my father by his arms and shook him so violently that the pain made him pass out. He came round in hospital hours later after surgery to bolt his shattered arm back together ...

Given a choice between overindulgent modern parenting and tyrannical Victorian parenting, I'd go modern!

But yes, somewhere in between would probably be ideal ...

 

[Moon bunny]

I must be a stunning parent....

My son Gravel is a Cordon Bleu trained cook.
He got a first at Cambridge
He's a great bike mechanic
He's in his penultimate year as a medical student but while on elective in Tanzania delivered 12 babies
He's walked the Three Peaks and Pennine Way
He's got a stunning Oxford educated girlfriend who speaks 6 languages fluently and is about to start a PhD at UCL

.....and he's only 11 years old

Well my son Blake is already in prison, for fraud no less , we'll have none of your working class violent crime on this crescent thank you very much , and he isn't quite two.

 

[jonny jeez]

Ok, I give up. I see that you all have perfect children and grandchildren and no worries for their future.

Aw, don't be like that, you have to admit @blazed comment made you smile a little.

I often worry that my kids are not as motivated as I want them to be but then realise that they are more motivated than I was at their age.

There's a stack of pressure to "do university" and assist the government in supporting the unemployed for a few more years and tons of other social stuff that just didn't exist when you and I were kids.

If you did a good job (and I'm sure you did) they'll grow up just fine, even if fine means paying someone to polish their shoes for them. (everyone wears trainers to work these days anyhow)

 

[Moon bunny]

(everyone wears trainers to work these days anyhow)

If they go to proper work they wear steel-toecapped boots.

 

[Globalti]

I have to be careful what I write on CC because my son is SamR and he lurks on here sometimes. Notice that I haven't linked this post to him.

 

[Tin Pot]

If they go to proper work they wear steel-toecapped boots.

...Why was it that I wore steel capped shoes to secondary school again?