Now I didn’t turn out the way my parents wanted, but being raised in the 50’s and 60’s, by the time I was 18 I could change a tire, balance a checkbook, do laundry, cook a meal for 8, use power tools, shoot straight (archery and firearms), back a trailer, count change and add/subtract/multiply/divide in my head.
I learned most of the rest of my skills in college and USAF Basic.
i wish I could back a trailer
that's great... i was a differnt story... but our 12-year old son can do most of those things... he cannot cook a meal for 8... he can drive a truck, drive a boat, start a campfire, or a fire in the fire place, he uses power tools, is learning to be a pretty good shooter, does mental math, has been doing his own laundry for four years now, he can install a sprinkler line, mow an acre of lawn on a riding lawn mower, plant plants, set up a tent, put together anything that comes with instructions including a trampoline and do many, many other things that my husband and i have taught him... plus he can clean house really well, toilets and all...
on top of all that he memorizes poetry, plays the piano, quotes Shakespeare, and recently took up hooking rugs--something he learned from his grandmother... he can do so much more at 12 than i could at 20... i was the youngest of 7 children--much older children, and i was spoiled...