Little things you realize you haven't taught your kids

[DawnM]

UGH!  

 

Apparently I have never taught my kids how to calculate paying the tax and tip at a restaurant when calculating how much they pay at the end and ordering accordingly.

 

Thankfully I caught it last night.  My 16 year old asked if he could go out with a large group from church to Chili's.  I said sure and told  him to get money out of my purse.  He grabbed a $10.

 

I told  him he had better take more and he said, "Oh, I will just get a meal that is $10."  Um, it doesn't work that way......so I spent the next 10 minutes trying to explain how tax and tip work and how he should calculate the tip.  

 

How did I miss teaching that?????

 

 

[trulycrabby]

You didn't miss it; seems like you did a very good job teaching the concept last night.

[linders]

Yes, a tip fail here, also, although the other extreme.

 

DS15 asked to borrow $10 to run to the corner soda shop (yes, we have an old-time burger and milkshake shop in our small town a couple blocks from school) with friends. Planned to get a $3.50 milkshake. When he returned I asked for the change, expecting a $5 bill. He sheepishly said he had no change. Why? Other kids were paying with $5 bills and telling the waitress to "keep the change." So when she came around to him he magnanimously said, "Keep the change." It was minutes later before he realized why she gave him such a warm thank-you.

[Ottakee]

There are many adults that does get this. They order a $9.99 meal plus a pop (often $2+) and throw in a $10 bill when in a group. Glad you taught him.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I find it frustrating that they just don't add the tax to the price.  And hey, why not add in the tip too.  They are expecting it.  We act like we have some sort of choice and sort of we do, but mostly we don't.

 

[DawnM]

There are many adults that does get this. They order a $9.99 meal plus a pop (often $2+) and throw in a $10 bill when in a group. Glad you taught him.

 

 

Well, you are right about that!  I had a friend just recently tell me that she was upset that her sister was upset with her.  She said that she and her sister got the 2 for $20 meal at some restaurant and she paid her $10 and didn't understand why her sister was mad and said to her, "You always do this!  Don't you get that with your drink and tax and tip, your meal came to $17?  I had to pay the additional $7 for you and the additional $7 for me, and it came to $10 for you and $24 for me!"

 

She still didn't seem to get it.  She said, "I was so proud of myself for actually paying my share.  I don't know why she got so mad."

 

Um, because you didn't pay your share!

 

And I used to hate the one bill for a large group thing and everyone pay up.  Inevitably, there wouldn't be enough $$ but no one knew who hadn't paid enough.  I much prefer the individual checks.

Edited June 16, 2016 by DawnM

[SparklyUnicorn]

How can someone not grasp that concept!?  Especially after it has been spelled out!

 

 

[DawnM]

How can someone not grasp that concept!?  Especially after it has been spelled out!

 

 

I am determined that my kid will get it!  But I am also determined that my kid will understand when he is being taken advantage of.  I don't want him paying the difference for everyone either and this particular kid is notorious for not really standing up for himself.

[Rebel Yell]

Well, you are right about that! I had a friend just recently tell me that she was upset that her sister was upset with her. She said that she and her sister got the 2 for $20 meal at some restaurant and she paid her $10 and didn't understand why her sister was mad and said to her, "You always do this! Don't you get that with your drink and tax and tip, your meal came to $17? I had to pay the additional $7 for you and the additional $7 for me, and it came to $10 for you and $24 for me!"

 

She still didn't seem to get it. She said, "I was so proud of myself for actually paying my share. I don't know why she got so mad."

 

Um, because you didn't pay your share!

 

And I used to hate the one bill for a large group thing and everyone pay up. Inevitably, there wouldn't be enough $$ but no one knew who hadn't paid enough. I much prefer the individual checks.

Did your friend show her sister the receipt? Or is the sister too young to read and do basic math? 🙄

When she buys something for $10.00, does she wonder why the cashier charges her $10.70 (or whatever it is with the local sales tax)?

 

🙄🙄🙄

 

How about next time the friend goes out with her sister she hands the sister $10.00 and lest the sister pay the bill and tip. 😎

Edited June 16, 2016 by Rebel Yell

[DawnM]

Did your friend show her sister the receipt? Or is the sister too young to read and do basic math? 🙄

When she buys something for $10.00, does she wonder why the cashier charges her $10.70 (or whatever it is with the local sales tax)?

 

🙄🙄🙄

 

How about next time the friend goes out with her sister she hands the sister $10.00 and lest the sister pay the bill and tip. 😎

 

 

My friend was 45 at the time and her sister was in her 50s.  I think the main problem in this family is that my friend was the baby of the family and was always treated as the baby with people taking care of her, so she has continued to live that way, with thinking older family members will just "cover it."  

 

I too didn't understand why the sister didn't just ask for separate checks.

[purplejackmama]

Only my daughter knows her middle name. Huh? What? How did I forget to tell these kids their NAMES?

[DawnM]

Only my daughter knows her middle name. Huh? What? How did I forget to tell these kids their NAMES?

 

 

HAHAHA!  Ok, I feel better!  

[SparklyUnicorn]

I am determined that my kid will get it!  But I am also determined that my kid will understand when he is being taken advantage of.  I don't want him paying the difference for everyone either and this particular kid is notorious for not really standing up for himself.

 

Oh I think it is understandable he didn't get it if he never was really in that situation before.  Some stuff I just don't think to mention.  Stuff like tax has come up because my kids have wanted to buy stuff thinking they had enough money, but they didn't realize tax was not included in the price.  But they've never seen nor paid a bill in a restaurant yet.  Tips aren't obvious because I just add that on using my credit card.

 

 

But someone in their 40s...not getting it?  That is baffling to me.

[purplejackmama]

Dawn,

Please ALWAYS talk to me about any parenting issue/concern and I can make you feel better simply by telling you how badly I've screwed up! ;)

[fairfarmhand]

My middle daughter just yesterday learned that her middle name has an E at the end.

 

She always thought it was Lynn

 

It's Lynne.

[Tanaqui]

Only my daughter knows her middle name. Huh? What? How did I forget to tell these kids their NAMES?

 

You must not yell at them enough.

 

I, on the other hand, make it a point to call FIRSTNAME MIDDLENAME LASTNAME! GET IN HERE RIGHT NOW! at least once a week. Then I hand the kid a soda or an ice cream or a new book or something.

 

[TheReader]

I learned this past weekend that my 18 yr old didn't know what "area code" meant as relates to phone numbers. 

 

Now, granted, we lived in Brazil for 6 years.....but we've been back for 2.5 yrs now. And, yes, in this day & age, everyone has to dial the full 10-digit phone number, so "area code" is somewhat of a foreign concept, only needed when certain forms specify which part of the number goes in which part of the form. 

 

It still felt like a bit of a failure. 

 

Oh, and my 11 yr old (though he does have learning delays...) doesn't know his own birthday. Awesome. When asked, he explained, "I don't keep track of that...." 

 

Yep, lots of little "how did THAT slip through the cracks?!" moments around here....

[Junie]

You must not yell at them enough.

 

I, on the other hand, make it a point to call FIRSTNAME MIDDLENAME LASTNAME! GET IN HERE RIGHT NOW! at least once a week. Then I hand the kid a soda or an ice cream or a new book or something.

 

This is awesome!

[frugalmamatx]

It's silly but - how to buckle a seatbeat. We don't have a car, and only rarely use a taxi or ride with friends - most of the time we use city bus. I realized the other day that my dd had no clue how to buckle herself in. 

 

Tax is something we need to work on here too. I haven't even covered tipping at all yet, as we don't normally eat out at places where you tip

[Junie]

What I'm finding out is that little dd5 knows all sorts of things that I didn't teach her.  Apparently one of the older kids saw that my teaching methods are flawed and decided to fill in the gaps.  :laugh:

 

As we left home the other day, dd5 started rattling off our phone number (area code included!).  Sometimes the girls play "school" (even though none of them has ever been to "school").  :)

[alisoncooks]

Only my daughter knows her middle name. Huh? What? How did I forget to tell these kids their NAMES?

 

 

This reminds me:

When DD was little, I put a sign on her bedroom door -- "____'s Room"

After a while, she was practicing writing and was so proud that she'd written her name. Yep, she'd written ____ Room.  All this time, she'd thought that r-o-o-m was how to spell her middle name.

[Joules]

Um, one day I told mine he had mail, and he asked how I knew whose mail was whose.  I explained the whole archaic envelope concept.  I refuse to admit on a public forum how old he was at the time. :leaving:   I do accept the blame on that one.  I just open everyone's mail here and dole out the important things.

[Miss Peregrine]

When dd was dual enrolled at the local community college she called me one day at lunch. "Did you know you're not supposed to put foil in a microwave?"

 

Me: hahahahaha.

 

We don't have a microwave and she had taken a homemade bean burrito for lunch. She was quite embarrassed when she lit up the cafeteria.

Edited June 16, 2016 by Miss Peregrine

[SKL]

About a week ago, my 9yo blared the horn on my car for several seconds.  She did not realize that leaning against the middle of the steering wheel made the horn blow.  :P

[Dmmetler]

I learned this past weekend that my 18 yr old didn't know what "area code" meant as relates to phone numbers.

 

Now, granted, we lived in Brazil for 6 years.....but we've been back for 2.5 yrs now. And, yes, in this day & age, everyone has to dial the full 10-digit phone number, so "area code" is somewhat of a foreign concept, only needed when certain forms specify which part of the number goes in which part of the form.

 

It still felt like a bit of a failure.

 

Oh, and my 11 yr old (though he does have learning delays...) doesn't know his own birthday. Awesome. When asked, he explained, "I don't keep track of that...."

 

Yep, lots of little "how did THAT slip through the cracks?!" moments around here....

DD was filling out an online form that wanted a phone number to text forgotten passwords to, etc, and she couldn't figure out why it wasn't working. It was because she hadn't put in the area code. She never has to dial it on our home phone, and doesn't dial on a cell phone at all, since you just click on the person you want to call, so she was totally unaware that those three digits were important. She's 11. Edited June 16, 2016 by dmmetler

[Sharon77]

We went to a diner once and my kids wanted milk. They brought out in those cartons and my kids had no idea how to open them :).  Waitress said, "they're just like school" hahaha!

 

The first time my dd went out to a meal with friends by herself, I gave her a CC to use. Waiter forged himself a larger tip!

[Miss Peregrine]

DD was filling out an online form that wanted a phone number to text forgotten passwords to, etc, and she couldn't figure out why it wasn't working. It was because she hadn't put in the area code. She never has to dial it on our home phone, and doesn't dial on a cell phone at all, since you just click on the person you want to call, so she was totally unaware that those three digits were important. She's 11.

I remember stopping at a pay phone in high school to let my mom know we were headed back home after Six Flags. I couldn't figure out why there was someone I didn't know answering our phone!

[linders]

DS13 named his Instagram account a nickname of his first name plus his middle name. When I saw it, I pointed out that his middle name had two t's on the end, not one (Bennett). His response? "Really! I've been spelling it wrong on everything at school for two years."

[fairfarmhand]

DS13 named his Instagram account a nickname of his first name plus his middle name. When I saw it, I pointed out that his middle name had two t's on the end, not one (Bennett). His response? "Really! I've been spelling it wrong on everything at school for two years."

 

Yeah, my dd who couldn't spell her middle name is 14.5 yrs old.

[Pink and Green Mom]

Off the top of my head:

 

I was mortified when oldest, in the 7th grade at the time, didn't know what TOWN he lived in.  He thought our subdivision was the name of our town.  Adding insult to injury, he kept insisting that I was wrong.

 

Youngest cannot for the life of him remember either mine or DH's cell phone numbers.  He keeps getting the last digit wrong.  Always.  We have to write it down for him on a piece of paper every time we leave him home.  It is one digit, you got the other nine correct.....

 

Neither of my children to this day could tell you my or DH's birthday. They know the month but not the day.  They do, however, know the month, day and year of the dog's birth as well as the month, day, year, and time we adopted him.

 

It was only in the past year that my youngest realized that my last name used to be different (before I was married) and that yes, indeed, that is the same last name of Grandma and Grandpa.

 

Neither of my kids can spell their middle name.  They were both adopted, and both had the name Dmitrii  - so both have that now as a middle name.  I know that is not the usual spelling but they cannot wrap their brains around it at all.

Edited June 16, 2016 by Pink and Green Mom

[Tanaqui]

All of you mentioning that your kids can't spell their own middle names, don't think of it as a misspelling. Think of it instead as a common law name change, your child exercising their autonomy. (It's less embarrassing that way.)

[Pippen]

Being that we live on a postal delivery route, my kids didn't know what a PO box is. One of my mine had to pay a ticket and was totally clueless how to handle a mailing to a PO box number. Fortunately I was there to step in with instructions, because "they don't teach you this part in driver's ed class."

 

However, I wasn't away at college with the other one, who only realized at the end of the year that boxes were assigned to each student and that they were to check them routinely. The university sends notifications by email when they had packages to pick up, so the assumption was made that they'd receive notification for other types of mail too. I found out on the parent FB page that mine wasn't the only student who missed this--some left campus without making that discovery so while they might have received a birthday package, they wouldn't have retrieved cards, etc.

 

[Pippen]

Um, one day I told mine he had mail, and he asked how I knew whose mail was whose.  I explained the whole archaic envelope concept.  I refuse to admit on a public forum how old he was at the time. :leaving:   I do accept the blame on that one.  I just open everyone's mail here and dole out the important things.

 

I think a lot of kids just aren't in tune to the whole mailbox concept. Certainly not like when I was growing up--mail delivery was one of the high points of my day!

[busymama7]

I've told this before but two of my boys went to band at the middle school together a few years ago. They had tro take the written final. On a scantron. 😉 The younger of the two looked at the samples on the card and figured it out. The older one was afraid to cover up the letters in the center of the rectangle so he only shaded in the sides of the rectangle. He failed he test. But when the teacher went over the answers he was confused because he had all the right answers. At some point someone looked and told him he didn't fill in the "bubbles" (really rectangles with a large letter in the center) correctly. Yeah homeschool fail 😂

[Corraleno]

When DD was 11, I discovered she had no idea that canned tuna was fish. She said she just assumed it was "some kind of mammal." 

[mamiof5]

Only my daughter knows her middle name. Huh? What? How did I forget to tell these kids their NAMES?

😂😅😂😄

[Leav97]

Our swim team has team travel for 12-18 year olds.  They added tipping to the paperwork for parents and had to list a minimum %.  So now you have to sign paperwork that you have educated your kid.  And these are mostly public school kids.  Apparently resturants hate teams traveling because kids don't tip.

[frugalmamatx]

Our swim team has team travel for 12-18 year olds.  They added tipping to the paperwork for parents and had to list a minimum %.  So now you have to sign paperwork that you have educated your kid.  And these are mostly public school kids.  Apparently resturants hate teams traveling because kids don't tip.

 

Now see THAT I don't agree with. No one should be forced to tip a certain %. IMO Tipping is based on the service received. I know many friends in college who worked in the food industry who thought the same. 

 

And very very often the service received in a large group is not as good. I've been in large groups where we were pretty much ignored by the staff and had to take our own drinks up to the counter for refills. Plus especially with the whole mandatory gratuity thing that a lot of places do. Tipping on top of that - no way. 

[Cinder]

We went to a diner once and my kids wanted milk. They brought out in those cartons and my kids had no idea how to open them :). 

 

This happened to ds2 once; I think he was about 13yo. It was the first time he got a drink in a container that didn't have a twist-off cap. I mean, nowadays even the cardboard cartons have twist-off caps so his confusion was understandable. He was a bit grossed out by the idea of putting his lips right on the cardboard to drink so he used a straw and declared he would never order milk in a restaurant again. :laugh:

[fairfarmhand]

Our swim team has team travel for 12-18 year olds.  They added tipping to the paperwork for parents and had to list a minimum %.  So now you have to sign paperwork that you have educated your kid.  And these are mostly public school kids.  Apparently resturants hate teams traveling because kids don't tip.

 

My dd on 4H trips began announcing very loudly "I think that waiter did an excellent job. I'm LEAVING A GOOD TIP FOR HIM!"

 

[AndyJoy]

UGH!

 

Apparently I have never taught my kids how to calculate paying the tax and tip at a restaurant when calculating how much they pay at the end and ordering accordingly.

 

Thankfully I caught it last night. My 16 year old asked if he could go out with a large group from church to Chili's. I said sure and told him to get money out of my purse. He grabbed a $10.

 

I told him he had better take more and he said, "Oh, I will just get a meal that is $10." Um, it doesn't work that way......so I spent the next 10 minutes trying to explain how tax and tip work and how he should calculate the tip.

 

How did I miss teaching that?????

It's amusing to me that it was Chili's with a youth group. When I was 14 my youth group went to Chili's during a youth conference. Our leader addressed the whole group and explained about tax and proper tipping so there would be no confusion at the end. He was embarrassed to discover our waitress was standing right behind him at the time ;). Your son is not the only 16-year-old I've known who needed to be taught that lesson.

[UCF612]

When my oldest was in second grade he landed in the ER. While there the doctor asked his birthday. He said June 20. The doctor asked what year. My son got a real confused look on his face and said "every year."

 

He knows his birth year now.

Edited June 16, 2016 by UCF612

[Guest]

You must not yell at them enough.

 

I, on the other hand, make it a point to call FIRSTNAME MIDDLENAME LASTNAME! GET IN HERE RIGHT NOW! at least once a week. Then I hand the kid a soda or an ice cream or a new book or something.

I think our entire town knows my kids full names if they have ever been in the store with us all at the same time. And not for any reasons near as nice as yours. :)

 

As for the tipping- there must be a massive amount of people around here who needed tip assistance, as just about every restaurant in a 50 miles radius now calculates it for you at the bottom of the receipt. 10-20%. Probably doesn't speak too well for the community as a whole....... But on a happy note it keeps you from being extra dextra generous when you've had a few margaritas and math isn't a complexity you feel like dealing with. :)

[juliebee]

When her dance teacher asked her what her full name was so she could put it on her dance costume bags my 5 year old said Brycie Boo Boo (her nickname) after she repeated it to the teacher several times they asked me if her last name was Bubu or Ebubu. When I told them Williams they and she looked confused. Apparently we had never told her what her real name was..oops

[Ewe Mama]

Simon and Theodore somehow missed out on learning to tie their shoes.

[Cinder]

I think our entire town knows my kids full names if they have ever been in the store with us all at the same time. And not for any reasons near as nice as yours. :)

 

Not trying to be alarmist but this reminded me of a story a friend told me. She said she used to call out her kids' first and middle names when they acted up in public--until the Walmart Incident. She was exasperated with her son and called out his name in a scolding tone. Then about 5 minutes later she heard a store page for Firstname Middlename--her son's name--to meet his mother at customer service. She found it very unsettling and reported it to a manager--though she didn't know if anything was (or could have been) done about it--then immediately left the store. But since that day she's switched from calling their names to saying Son or Daughter instead.

[Momto6inIN]

Not trying to be alarmist but this reminded me of a story a friend told me. She said she used to call out her kids' first and middle names when they acted up in public--until the Walmart Incident. She was exasperated with her son and called out his name in a scolding tone. Then about 5 minutes later she heard a store page for Firstname Middlename--her son's name--to meet his mother at customer service. She found it very unsettling and reported it to a manager--though she didn't know if anything was (or could have been) done about it--then immediately left the store. But since that day she's switched from calling their names to saying Son or Daughter instead.

 

:eek:  This totally freaked me out.

 

[gaillardia]

We've got weird nicknames we use for each other and we refer to one another using those strange names when out in public.

 

The things I've forgotten to teach my kids...Baking powder and baking soda are two different things and can't be used interchangeably. I have a baker in the family.

 

Another: at 10/11 years old one dd thought passionate kissing was sex. And then I talked to her about it. Poor child.

 

I know there are so many more fails, lucky for me I've forgotten them. I'm sure the kids remember a few.

 

 

[Plink]

I somehow completely missed teaching the word "repetition."  Repeat, they know, but not repetition???

 

DD needed physical therapy and was thrilled because she only had 5 short exercises to do - the fact that she was told to do # repetitions completely escaped her. 

[ikslo]

I went through a lot of these things tonight with my son, and he was doing great, until we got to my phone number.

 

I had taught him years ago using that Sesame Street "That's My Number" tune. So when he said he didn't know it, I told him. His response? Wait, you have the same phone number as Sesame Street?

 

Total fail.