Why Catholic Millennials Need These Four Urgent Life Skills

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"Many complain that young people are not getting the basic life skills so needed to survive in the world. …

At the same time, our culture encourages young people to extend their adolescence well into their twenties. They postpone future responsibilities indefinitely as seen in a third of young adults between 18 and 34 that now rely upon their parents for room, board or financial support.

The result is a surge of young people ill-prepared to be adults. Indeed, young people doing adult-like things has given rise to the new verb “to adult.” Making one’s bed in the morning is an exercise in adulting as would be arriving on time for work.

Marketers would be amiss if they did not take notice of an opportunity. Hence, adulting classes have sprung up all over the country."

Why Catholic Millennials Need These Four Urgent Life Skills
 
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I think there are many issues in play here. First, many millennials had/have helicopter parents. They weren’t given the chance to fail and pick themselves up again. Someone is/was always there to bail them out.

Millennials sometimes get a bad wrap. I work with some and they are really quite lovely. They appear to be very frugal, live simply, and eat at home. It’s a tough time to be a young adult. In my area, housing is crazy expensive. A one bedroom apartment can cost $2000 a month. I fully expect that my children may have to live with me as young adults. I hope not, but it seems likely.

Let’s cut the millennials some slack,

With love,
A Gen Xer
 
Yes, I agree we should cut them some slack. I was surprised that there is actually a demand for “adulting” classes, but if they are usefull that’s all to the good. I know a few young people myself, some who are entirely independent, but others who worry me, as they seem to be clueless as how to plan for the future or even apply for a job.
 
JimG said:
Making one’s bed in the morning is an exercise in adulting as would be arriving on time for work.
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I don’t know why you would conflate these two. Making one’s bed in the morning is only an issue if one’s household collectively decides its an issue. Arriving on time for work, on the other hand, is basic responsibility…
 
Maybe making your bed is a starting point when younger as a contribution to the organization of a house that belongs to a family as is the care of the common areas . It is in a way a principle of order, respect, organization and team work .
Negotiable in certain terms but it is good habits. And responsibility though it may not be the most pleasant and fun thing to do.
Being clean and observing certain tidiness makes it easier to share spaces and lives with others …
It has to do with responsibility and respect for those who share with you.
When you are late, somebody is kept waiting or team work delayed…or somebody is covering for you… and so on.
I think…
 
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Perhaps, though one could argue that if one doesn’t share a room, not making the bed is really a personal decision of no great import…as long as one is willing to adapt and step up if circumstances change. I would argue that tidying up the kitchen or living room, if a shared space, is far more important.

Of course having the common sense to change one’s sheets regularly is another matter entirely…
 
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twf said:
Of course having the common sense to change one’s sheets regularly is another matter entirely…
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That would be a non negotiable…At least at home,twf 🙂 weekly!
 
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Millennials get a terrible wrap. I occasionally lecture at uni (Undergraduate. Therefore 17-19 year olds mainly). They are no different than we were (gen x) in many ways. Every generation has their moments of arrogance and self assurance - it is part and parcel of being a youth of a certain age.
In fact I would argue as a collective Millennials are more aware of social issues and kinder to minorities. They also have a much more balanced ability to see things through the eyes of others.

Yes some are useless due to their personal experiences. But the vast majority are going to be wonderful adults.

Socrates is attributed to the following:

The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.
 
There was also something the old Greeks wrote about young people being hooligans on the streets. Nothing new under the sun…

I still say, that since the brain is not fully developed until about the age 25, then the young still have some practice time in order to be adults.
 
CAF proves to be a wonderful little internet oasis yet again! :heart:An article about millenials and no negativity or generation fighting in the comments.

I’m a little surprised the demand for adulting classes would be very high, given how many of us rely on youtube tutorials to learn or improve some life skills. I guess the class makes it social, but I wouldn’t pay money for a class about how to dig a hole if I were living with my parents trying to save up to move out.
 
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JimG said:
Making one’s bed in the morning is an exercise in adulting as would be arriving on time for work.
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I rarely did either of these things in my entire life (unless I have a meeting, then I try to be on time) and everything still went pretty good. Disclaimer: I never worked an hourly wage job where lateness would get you canned the second time it happened.

I think some more important “adulting” skills are paying your bills and dating without it being a big deal.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
dating without it being a big deal.
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This.
I thought I was a pretty big dork when I started dating, but I’m surprised how many college age kids I know can’t even string two words together or make eye contact with the opposite sex.
 
HeDa said:
There was also something the old Greeks wrote about young people being hooligans on the streets. Nothing new under the sun…
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It’s probably this one attributed to Socrates .

“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”
 
I think one reason why mill. have a hard time dating is that most of their lives, they’ve seen a model of dating on tv and movies where the couple meets, has a meal and a walk, and then they go back to one of their homes and has sex.

Unless the parents have filtered this for their children, and made it clear to them that men and women should NOT have sex until they are married, this is what the mills know–it’s no wonder that they’re terrified of dating! If I knew that I was going to meet a man and few hours later be having sex with him, I would stay in my house behind closed curtains and locked doors and NEVER talk to a man!
 
That and it’s very easy to escape uncomfortable social situation by staring into a phone
 
I’m somewhere in the middle (as a Generation X) but things have just gotten worse for young people as time goes on. People are no longer better off than their parents anymore. They’re having to navigate their way through a world that is morally and financially bankrupt. I certainly can’t judge anyone that can rely on their parents for help. I really miss having my parents in my life, even if just for some moral support.
 
My grandmother, a 3rd generation German hausfrau (and farmer’s wife) taught me from a very early age that if the bed is made, the whole room looks clean and the whole house looks clean and our whole lives look clean.

I think she was right. R.I.P. Grandma.

It takes less than a minute to make a bed, assuming that you don’t have elaborate bed dressings with fifteen pillows that have to be artistically-arranged.
 
Peeps said:
if the bed is made, the whole room looks clean and the whole house looks clean and our whole lives look clean.
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She was right!

I miss making my bed as soon as I get out of it. It set such a productive tone for the day. At present, I’d have to make my bed over top of the sneaky baby who sneaks her way into my bed every night. 😆
 
Ardent_Fire said:
People are no longer better off than their parents anymore.
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The same complaint was going on back in the 90s. Which was 20-30 years ago now.

The idea that every generation does better than their parents, financially, is a myth driven by the baby boom. Not to mention that a lot of the baby-boom and the post-boom generation weren’t all that rich. Some of them overspent themselves giving that impression.
 
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