7th graders who have never used a knife or walked a dog

Nothing much to add here. I was just watching this FB live w/ the Let Grow Project which promotes Free Range Parenting.

The replay vid will be available later. So here's the link. https://www.facebook.com/SIParent/videos/122984633089665

I am just aghast at what modern parenting has turned kids into. By 7th grade I was basically independent, got everywhere on my own even tho I couldn't drive (and there was no internet, u had to figure it out yourself somehow), and in fact, didnt want my parents helping me for a variety of reasons. Now teens want their parents around becuz life is so scary I guess.

They were giving examples of 7th graders who never did normal things becuz they are afraid to becus "what if...." or they were scared, or their parents never let them do stuff by themselves. Parents who have to lock the kids out in the yard, and forced not to look out the window every minute.
Kids suffering depression etc. I can't believe parenting has made kids MORE dependent as adults, instead of what it is supposed to do...make them grow up for adult life. Explains why all my pals' adult kids are still in college ten years later, never cleaned a toilet by 25 y.o., and still live in the basement. They may have sex like an adult, but the rest of their lives is still childhood. IDK what these kids are gonna do when they hit 30 and 40.

Parents don't seem to understand that part of their job as parents is to prepare their kids for entry into adulthood by teaching them basic independence like cleaning the house, doing laundry, cooking for themselves, budgeting and so forth. Rather, they do the exact opposite by babying and pampering their kids well into adulthood to the point these kids don't know how to do a single thing on their own. I think it's because they like knowing someone is dependent on them like a baby, or they're such control freaks that they won't let their kids find their own path in life.

I understand how this feels because my mother never let me do anything as a kid, but then she'd turn around and tell me how stupid I was for not intrinsically knowing how to do those things she forbade me from doing. Wasn't allowed to cook, clean, learn to do laundry, put gas in a car, balance a checkbook, clean a litterbox, wash dishes - hell, I wasn't even allowed to do my own homework! She did it for me until I was 15 and all the other stuff I had to figure out on my own. But every time I failed to do something she wouldn't show me how to do, I was met with sighing about how Susie or Katie from school probably knows how to do those things, but not Cambion because Cambion's too stupid.

Never got the birds and the bees talk, never got told I'd bleed from my vagina once a month for the next 40 years or how to use pads/tampons, never got told how to shave (I used a disposable razor with no water or soap the first time, had a lot of razor burn that day), never got told I needed a bra and was never measured for one for a proper fit and I wore a too-small bra for years. I wasn't even allowed to have an Easy-Bake Oven when I was like ten - got one for a gift and she threw it away because she felt I was too stupid to use it without injury. Got told that if I have children, she would raise them. Not help raise them, but she would take said child from me, raise it for me completely and I would get no say at all in the child's upbringing (since she did such a good job with me ). Thankfully she won't ever get that opportunity.

And any efforts to try and learn new things was often met with screaming. Like she threw an enormous tantrum when she "caught" me reading Auto Repair for Dummies. See I'm not supposed to try to learn how my car works - I'm just supposed to take it to a mechanic and be ignorant like her. I think she wanted me to stay stupid so she could always feel smarter than me in every regard. She's even come out and said very matter-of-factly that anyone younger than her is an idiot. Too bad she's one of the dumbest people I know.

I got lucky - a lot of people never figure this shit out because of control freak helicopter parents who want to infantilize their kids their entire lives and shield them from learning anything that could help them get away from home. But when Mommy dies, she doesn't have to care if her child is 50 years old and has no idea how to use a stove because she'll be dead and her helpless adult child will no longer be her problem.

Wow Cambion, that's amazing. Your mom was ahead of her time, as it really seems this modern parunting that has been going on since the 90s seemed to make this arrested development adulthood we have now. I have some smart friends' but I think they are so afraid of being the mean parent they just don't give their kids the push/shove they know their parents would.

I remember an episode of Celebrity Rehab where they had the clients go to a supermarket - none of them knew how to shop for food or do other mundane things - one of them said she "did not know how to boil water". One of them was Steven Adler who had issues with his mother. I think it would have helped if she had taken Steven to a supermarket when he was younger. Fortunately for me, my mom did that.

I was very late in my milestones due to autism, but this is idiotic.

+++++++++++++

Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!

In casual conversations in the workplace, I'm amazed how many kids are completely exempted from doing any household chores. They are expected to focus on school and after school activities so they can get into a good KAWLEDGE. That never flew in my family of origin. We all got the lesson--there is no such thing as a free lunch. And it did not matter if you were a girl--you were expected to shovel snow and cut grass too. None of this Disney Princess shit.

When I was nine I was a latchkey kid. I was the first one home and I was expected to call my mom, start dinner and do some household chores and my homework. I actually liked living like that and I am SO GLAD I am not a kid today for so many reasons. Having time alone as a kid and having to manage myself made me into a strong person. I am an introvert anyway and I would have been MORTIFIED by the parental hovering that takes place today. Any extra-curricular activities I did were for me, not because someone was hovering over me and telling me how great I was just because I sucked air. My DH had a similar upbringing.

One of my sisters married a wealthy guy and was a SAHM. She had her kids in the early 90's and was ahead of her time in terms of hovering. I remember being at a family event when her kids were 12 and 10. We were carpooling to a venue and I asked the kids (whom I never saw normally because they lived 800 miles away) if they wanted to ride in my car. I remember being gobsmacked when they said they wanted to ride with their parents. When I was at 8 or 9 I would have ditched my parents in a hot second. I remember wondering WTF was wrong with those kids. My mom used to say my one sister's kids were like hothouse flowers and she was right.

A lot of U.S. kids today are pretty useless. One of my friends IRL has a kid in college. She routinely FED-EXes him stuff he needs, like printer ink, anything he suddenly "needs" due to lack of planning. This is a 20 year old person. Jeezus.

When I went to college I called my parents once a week.

That's how my maternal unit was with me - NOTHING else mattered except going to school and grades. Wasn't allowed to do anything extra-curricular either, partly because we were poor and partly because I wasn't allowed to focus on anything except school. God I hated homework time because my mother was a moron and would spend hours and hours trying to figure out answers to questions and bitching about how the questions were dumb and the teachers were dumb for making them up, and then when I brought home a lousy grade with her answers, she would scream for about 45 minutes about how it was unfair and she can't believe that bitch (the teacher) said her answer was wrong because it was actually right and the teacher was just too dumb to understand her brilliance.

I find it hilarious that she did my homework for me, but fully expected me to go to college. I just started doing my own homework over time and the difference was night and day. I didn't have to sit for five hours watching her try to think - I could work at my own pace and often finished in well less than half the time she took AND my grades got better. Also I didn't have fucking anxiety attacks every night from being screamed at over my homework.

Don't get me wrong, education is certainly important, but I think basic life skills are more useful than knowing all the European capitals or what happens when you cut a planarian in half.

But then compare to this roommate I used to have in college, who had an absolute barnacle of a helicopter parent. Nice enough girl, but her mother would drive 10+ hours from their hometown to the school every weekend to stay with her daughter, camping in her bedroom and sleeping in the girl's twin bed with her. Anyone who has ever slept in a twin knows they are hardly big enough for one person, let alone two.

Mommy would also bitch at the other folks in the dorm room for keeping her up every night because she would go to bed at 9pm. Imagine that, college kids stay up late and make a little noise on the weekend! Mommy also bitched at me for being on my computer in my room that I paid for because she said my typing kept her awake. Needless to say, after about a month of this, that roommate decided to move out of the dorms because her mommy didn't like us. I sure hope she was able to break away from her mother because she was FAR too dependent on her Moo and I could tell she was groomed to be that way.

It should be considered neglect to not teach your child how to be an adult at least a little bit. I think a lot of parents who engage in this kind of behavior don't want to accept that their kids are growing up, so instead of embracing their progression into the next stage of life, they do everything they can to keep their kids dependent on them for as long as possible. In a sense, part of me is glad I was never expected to do practical shit because it would have just been more opportunities for my mother to tell me how dumb I was. Had my mother been sane, I might have preferred some guidance, but given what a whackaloon she is, I'm kinda glad I just learned everything on my own at my own pace without commentary.

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bell_flower
In casual conversations in the workplace, I'm amazed how many kids are completely exempted from doing any household chores. They are expected to focus on school and after school activities so they can get into a good KAWLEDGE. That never flew in my family of origin. We all got the lesson--there is no such thing as a free lunch. And it did not matter if you were a girl--you were expected to shovel snow and cut grass too. None of this Disney Princess shit.

I became a latch key brat when my Mom worked when I was about 16. I had to call her when I got home, unload then load the dishwasher, wash any pans that didn't fit, do homework if I had any as I had a habit of doing the homework on the library PC, then watch TV 'til the parents got home.

My early teens saw my family homeless due to Reaganomics, and we often didn't know where we'd live from day to day. Before my teens, it was definitely not safe for me to be home alone.

While 16 may seem old for old school parents to have kids as latch key brats, I was a tard, so I needed extra minding. I was six years behind my peers between the ears. My parents are definitely old school as Mom was born in 1939.

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Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!

My parents were also ahead of their time though not as bad as Cambion's. I remember being very surprised in my 40s when I read in the newspaper many generation Xers felt ignored by their parents. My experience was the opposite. My parents constantly hovered and wanted to know about every little damn thing I was doing, and I always had less freedom than other kids my age. I did very little housework, but that might have been because Mom wanted to be a martyr. Both my dad and I would have done more around the house if Mom had let us, but she preferred to do it all herself so she could bitch about how hard she worked and nobody appreciated her.

They also had the attitude education is all that mattered. I wonder how common that is? I was strongly discouraged from having any interest or doing any activity that was not somehow related to my education or future career. The kind of career they wanted me to have of course. They wanted me to have just enough of a social life to avoid appearing "strange" and do a few extracurricular activities because those helped with getting into college. But they sure as fuck didn't want me to actually care about my friends.

Now I know I would be much better off and probably would have had a better childhood if they had encouraged me to be a balanced person with a variety of interests. This "education is everything" shit needs to die. I learned the hard way what makes or breaks you in life is how well you relate to people, not how educated or smart you are.

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Now I know I would be much better off and probably would have had a better childhood if they had encouraged me to be a balanced person with a variety of interests. This "education is everything" shit needs to die. I learned the hard way what makes or breaks you in life is how well you relate to people, not how educated or smart you are.

Word.

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They also had the attitude education is all that mattered. I wonder how common that is? I was strongly discouraged from having any interest or doing any activity that was not somehow related to my education or future career. The kind of career they wanted me to have of course.

Even though I was expected to do stuff around the house I was also hampered by rigid Parental Expectations. My mom is in her 80's now but just the other day I let her know what bad advice she gave me when she wouldn't allow me to take a typing course in high school. Her rationale was, "I don't want you to be a secretary" but it was a practical skill to know. Luckily I defied her in college and took a course and I now type like the wind.

For similar reasons she didn't allow me to take a Home Economics course in high school. A home is a mini economy and I don't think those skills would have been wasted. I would have also liked to take a shop or woodworking course, but I'm working on those things now.

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ondinette
Both my dad and I would have done more around the house if Mom had let us, but she preferred to do it all herself so she could bitch about how hard she worked and nobody appreciated her.

Mine did this shit too. Wouldn't let me do any chores because I was presumably too dumb to do them right, but then she'd turn right around and complain about how everything was her job, she's the goddamn maid and nobody else can do anything in this fucking house but her.

She would also plant traps when her asshat boyfriend was still around - she'd leave a gum wrapper or bottle cap or some little piece of rubbish on one of the stairs or on the floor and when nobody would notice it and throw it away, she'd scream about how everyone is lazy because we didn't find her planted trash and put it in the garbage can. So she created her own springboard to launch herself into martyrdom.

I remember my 8 yr old nephew couldnt make toaster in a toaster

My H.S. aged neice didnt know that pasta came hard in a box. So all those years, Im guessing she was never taken to a grocery store, or sat in the kitchen when adults cooked. It's an Italian family BTW, and I doubt all their pasta was made fresh for regular dinners.


No one does chores. My nephew didnt even have to take the trash to the curb becuz "he has the rest of his life for that"

My neighbors had 4 kids and used to have these street and yard parties all the time, I never saw the kids as so much take a paper plate in the house or anything even super ez like that. They would actually lean against the fence and the adults would scurry around over every little thing. I couldnt believe they wouldnt at least make the kids be a Gofer to fetch things back and forth from the house. But they didnt.

In the neighborhood, I have basically never seen a teen mow a lawn or shovel snow but once.

It seems like the Dads of the families more likely want the kids to do some chores, but the women talk them out of it "we didnt have kids to be slaves" "we all do it as a family or they dont do it". I mean, I dont know where modern parenting got this mindset. What is wrong if your teen son mows the lawn one afternoon while dad naps on the couch? Most lawns around here would only take 30-60mins tops.

My online friends make sure I know their kids ONLY job is going to school. IDK....we all had PT jobs, and chores.....and went to school, got good grades even.....HOW DID WE DO IT?

Sure their were kids like this back in the day, they were called spoiled, and heliocopter parents were called overbearing and overly cautious. But now this is the NORM and the majority. I just dont know how we got here collectively across the nation and maybe the western world.


And Hot house flowers is a perfect term for them.

Admittedly chores was not something my PNB mother wasn't very strict with, although we did do some, and were told to do things, especially when I was older.

The reason in her case was I think legit. Neither I nor sister were healthy enough to teach good habits or have a chore cycle, especially sister as she could spend nine months a year on death's door in a bad year. She had asthma that could not be controlled. My issue was I caught every childhood illness going and was a minimum of 6 years behind my peers. I was never healthy for a long enough period of time to immunize during childhood. The irony of my being not immunized AND autistic makes me smirk hard today considering all the anti-vaxxers screaming "Autism cooties".

+++++++++++++

Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!

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ondinette
My parents were also ahead of their time though not as bad as Cambion's. I remember being very surprised in my 40s when I read in the newspaper many generation Xers felt ignored by their parents. My experience was the opposite. My parents constantly hovered and wanted to know about every little damn thing I was doing, and I always had less freedom than other kids my age. I did very little housework, but that might have been because Mom wanted to be a martyr. Both my dad and I would have done more around the house if Mom had let us, but she preferred to do it all herself so she could bitch about how hard she worked and nobody appreciated her.

They also had the attitude education is all that mattered. I wonder how common that is? I was strongly discouraged from having any interest or doing any activity that was not somehow related to my education or future career. The kind of career they wanted me to have of course. They wanted me to have just enough of a social life to avoid appearing "strange" and do a few extracurricular activities because those helped with getting into college. But they sure as fuck didn't want me to actually care about my friends.

Now I know I would be much better off and probably would have had a better childhood if they had encouraged me to be a balanced person with a variety of interests. This "education is everything" shit needs to die. I learned the hard way what makes or breaks you in life is how well you relate to people, not how educated or smart you are.

My parents said nothing matters but school. I had a variety of interests but basically was put down all the time and told they meant nothing because they weren't school. Later they expanded it to school and swimming, then it was school, swimming, and wearing the right clothes. I wasn't interested in swimming and didn't want to invite people over to swim like my sister did to show off our inground pool. I also didn't care much about designer clothing and being able to show we could afford stuff like Alligator jeans, which also made us better than everyone else.

They also didn't like me having friends, only people I could use to get what I want since they believed only your family was there for you and nobody else. It was almost like being in a cult, we were the only right ones and the outside was bad.

I just wanted to be who I was and be real, and not worry about other things. Sometimes I still don't know who or what I am supposed to be.

Stories online have shown that teens could not figure out how to use an old rotary phone. On another forum one member described making a little money showing university students how to use the laundromat washers and dryers because they didn't have a clue.

These are the same kids who eat Tide Pods, right?

But they're also the same kids who have bought all the indoctrination about how we adults are going to kill the planet in 12 years. They don't know how to use everyday objects, but they think they know it all on political and environmental matters. Yeah, sure.

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JohnDrake


They also didn't like me having friends, only people I could use to get what I want since they believed only your family was there for you and nobody else. It was almost like being in a cult, we were the only right ones and the outside was bad.

This is how my MIL is and I found it cult-like myself. Her kids are obviously all adults now and it is still like that. They consider themselves the closest of close families, but I find it just some kind of indoctrination, so her kids would always be right by her side, sing her praises, and she would never be alone.

As for this generation not knowing how to figure out the laundrymat, I just dont get it....heliocopter parents are around their damn kids all day, yet...they dont teach them shit. This is another thing my MIL did, it keeps her kids dependent on her. But, she would jokingly make fun of them when they grew. I felt like saying, it is just evidence of you being a shitty parent bcuz u didnt teach them to be grown ups. How do u blame the kids for that? Plus, she was a SAHM when everyone did that. My mom was not. People would look down on a non-SAHMs back then. The funny thing is....I knew how to totally do stuff or figure it out or not have anxiety figuring it out. So, my mom technically was a better parent than the SAHMs babying their kids. For some reason the SAHMs of yesteryear thought they were doing god's work making PB&Js for their stupid kids. My mom taught me adulthood.

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cfuter

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JohnDrake


They also didn't like me having friends, only people I could use to get what I want since they believed only your family was there for you and nobody else. It was almost like being in a cult, we were the only right ones and the outside was bad.

This is how my MIL is and I found it cult-like myself. Her kids are obviously all adults now and it is still like that. They consider themselves the closest of close families, but I find it just some kind of indoctrination, so her kids would always be right by her side, sing her praises, and she would never be alone.

As for this generation not knowing how to figure out the laundrymat, I just dont get it....heliocopter parents are around their damn kids all day, yet...they dont teach them shit. This is another thing my MIL did, it keeps her kids dependent on her. But, she would jokingly make fun of them when they grew. I felt like saying, it is just evidence of you being a shitty parent bcuz u didnt teach them to be grown ups. How do u blame the kids for that? Plus, she was a SAHM when everyone did that. My mom was not. People would look down on a non-SAHMs back then. The funny thing is....I knew how to totally do stuff or figure it out or not have anxiety figuring it out. So, my mom technically was a better parent than the SAHMs babying their kids. For some reason the SAHMs of yesteryear thought they were doing god's work making PB&Js for their stupid kids. My mom taught me adulthood.

I never did my own laundry until I had my own place. That was part of my mother's martyrdom. She liked to complain about all the stuff she had to do and if we tried to do it ourselves, she'd either go behind us an redo it or interfere with our efforts to do it ourselves. If we tried to do our own laundry, no matter what time it was, she'd decide she wanted to do laundry too and pick a fight about using the machine. She wanted to be a martyr and we all just gave up and let her be one.

Even so, I was able to figure out how to use the coin machines at my apartment complex without too much trouble. I also figured out how to cook, clean, and survive on my own. I think it's even worse that they can't figure out anything on their own. I actually enjoy the challenge of learning new things. Does anyone still enjoy that?

I was trying to schedule a prospective client this week. He didn't call himself, he left it to Mumsie Dearest. Anyhoo, she didn't want the only available date because she couldn't drive him that day, I told her that the site was accessible by bus, and she was shocked at the very idea and informed me that "he can't take the bus, he's NINETEEN(!)". JFC, my father turned 19 on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific during WWII, my brother in law was in the jungles of Vietnam at that age. I can't even.

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JoJo
I was trying to schedule a prospective client this week. He didn't call himself, he left it to Mumsie Dearest. Anyhoo, she didn't want the only available date because she couldn't drive him that day, I told her that the site was accessible by bus, and she was shocked at the very idea and informed me that "he can't take the bus, he's NINETEEN(!)". JFC, my father turned 19 on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific during WWII, my brother in law was in the jungles of Vietnam at that age. I can't even.

I was fifteen and riding buses, and I was a little SPED!

+++++++++++++

Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!

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JoJo
I was trying to schedule a prospective client this week. He didn't call himself, he left it to Mumsie Dearest. Anyhoo, she didn't want the only available date because she couldn't drive him that day, I told her that the site was accessible by bus, and she was shocked at the very idea and informed me that "he can't take the bus, he's NINETEEN(!)". JFC, my father turned 19 on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific during WWII, my brother in law was in the jungles of Vietnam at that age. I can't even.

It seems that while legal adulthood begins at 18, mental/emotional childhood becomes longer and longer. I wonder when exactly people are expected to be adults now? Before, it was late teens. Then it became mid-twenties as kids went to college and were allowed to be on Mom and Dad's insurance until age 25-26. Now it seems that 30 is the new 20 and parents see no issue at all continuing to baby their grown-ass kids to the point where they don't know how to actually do anything.

These people aren't even the slightest bit embarrassed by their parents handling their business either because they don't know any other way. Mommy has just always been the one to do all their shit for them. It's always the mothers who do this hovering crap too. I never see helicopter dads. Why is that? If the Moos need something to nurture, can't they buy a fucking houseplant or something instead of infantilizing their adult children damn near to the point of mental disability? I'm surprised they don't come to college to change their kids' diapers between classes.

Big shock, my mother has done similar shit - thinking she has to arrange my shit for me ranging from doctor visits to oil changes, and telling people I can't do X because I'm just 25 or 28 or whatever. I remember when I was 23-24 and promised I'd dog-sit for a friend overnight and told the maternal unit at the last minute because I figured it was no big deal. She had a complete meltdown, saying that I wasn't allowed to stay alone overnight anywhere and that "I ain't gonna have you die for two goddamn dogs!" because she felt that someone would absolutely break in on that night and kill me. So I told her that she had to call that friend and explain to her why I have to back out of my promise. And since my mother has no shame, she immediately called said friend and screamed at her for daring to think it was acceptable to ask a grown adult to dog-sit all alone. Then she yelled at me some more and told me how stupid I was to think it was okay to dog-sit for one night by myself.

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My neighbors had 4 kids and used to have these street and yard parties all the time, I never saw the kids as so much take a paper plate in the house or anything even super ez like that. They would actually lean against the fence and the adults would scurry around over every little thing.

I've seen that and I just shake my head--like they are little Lords and Ladies who do not have to lift a finger. Great life lesson to teach your kid, instead of making them be helpful to others.

I've also had friends who go to family gatherings and KIDS ARE GIVEN THE COMFORTABLE BEDS and usually the bedrooms while adults take the dregs. Fuck that shit--kids are young and their joints don't hurt. It's an adventure to them to sleep on air mattresses, etc.

I'm so glad my MIL is sensible at family gatherings and the kids pile on mattresses on the floor, sleep on couches, while the adults get the real beds. (Of course we stay in a hotel and avoid all that mess.)

As for these adult kids having mummie call....

The same thing has been happening at my old work in more recent years. I worked there close to 30 yrs and it didnt happen in the old days but it does now. Even the coworkers that are parents make fun of it. I bite my tongue, but their kids may only be 3-5 yrs younger than the clients.I feel like saying, remember this when your girls get older and don't call for them. Becuz they all tend to baby their kids, so why would they be any different?

Since it is a law office, I have to say to the parents that their adult son is the client, and not them, and there is attorney client privilege blah blah blah, some make kid call but some dig the heels in more, or just admit that adult son cant be trusted to call and not forget important stuff to do for a lawsuit. I will say, If they are adult enough to drive, they are adult enough to get in an accident, they are adult enough to call a law office. That usually works, but it is unbelievable how they just never let go of the reins. It must be so frustrating for them.

But this is defiinitely a phenomena nationwide. What has parenting become and when will the adults literally start adulting themselves?

I was yelling at the TV this morning and I thought of this topic.

I like to watch Monsters Inside Me, which is a show about parasites and other infections. (I wish everyone watched it for hygiene reasons, but I digress.) Anyway, some SAHM was having a problem with her eyes. It turned out it was a single cell amoeba infection due to poor contact lens care.

She went blind in one eye and was dramatically recounting how OMG WTF BBQ her 10 year old twins actually had to get themselves ready for school one morning and they had to pack their own lunches!

She was sooooo smug and bursting with pride over it.

The horror of ten year old children having to pack a meal for themselves......a true First World Tragedy!

I hope this show does not continue in this vein because I'll have to stop watching. So pathetic!

Parents probably feel the need to pack their brats' lunches for them because if left up to the kids, they'd take nothing but junk food to eat. Which I also chalk up to bad parenting because if your kid is one of the ones that would sooner starve than eat an apple (barring any legitimate allergies) at the age of ten because they can't have a lunchbox full of cookies, candy and soda every day, you have done a shit job raising that kid. These will be the same parents with 250-pound fifth graders who say their kids are just "big-boned."

And I've heard multiple stories of brats who take a packed lunch and chuck it in the trash at school because Mommy packed a sandwich and some carrot sticks. So they'll either go hungry because it wasn't cake and an energy drink or they'll throw out a perfectly good lunch to beg for food. This kind of thing is often told to the parent by the principal because someone noticed Junior begging for crumbs every day from the other kids and they're just calling home to make sure there's enough to eat.

It's most likely not that the kids can't make their own lunches. It's that they can't be trusted to make semi-nutritious lunches, so their handlers have to pack their lunches for them. Or maybe they really are too lazy to even stuff a sack full of Mountain Dew and an entire family-size bag of Oreos and call it lunch.

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So if people don't officially "grow up" until later and later in life, I assume that means when many of them inevitably have kids, they will just wash their hands of any parental responsibility because they don't feel like adulting yet. I'm sure that will have a swell outcome for everyone involved.

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It's most likely not that the kids can't make their own lunches. It's that they can't be trusted to make semi-nutritious lunches, so their handlers have to pack their lunches for them. Or maybe they really are too lazy to even stuff a sack full of Mountain Dew and an entire family-size bag of Oreos and call it lunch.

It's still a parental problem of coddling or just that Moo wants to do everything to justify her existence.

I don't think it's unreasonable for a 10 year old to know how to make a sandwich for herself and to pick out a reasonable lunch to take to school.
It shouldn't be the freaking huge deal that Moo made it out to be. And yeah, kids want to eat junk, but I knew in my house there was no way my mom would have tolerated that, and I'd better act accordingly.