Grown-up Skills (#28)

So I was browsing Amazon looking for some fun stuff for my Kindle last night when I came across a book about turning 30..it seems I'm not the only one who has a mid- (quarter?) life crisis when approaching this age. Here's what the book description said:

Competence. Now in convenient book format
You’re old enough to own property and have a family, but can you safely open a bottle of champagne? Or change a flat tire? 30 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do Before Turning 30 provides idiot-proof instructions for mastering these and other essential, face-saving, and possibly life-saving skills.

You’ll learn how to...
1. wrap a present

2. start a successful fire in a fireplace, at a campsite, and in a barbecue
3. finish a piece of furniture

4. get a raise
5. order wine at a restaurant without getting stiffed
6. parallel park in three breathtakingly beautiful movements
7. dance a “slow dance” without looking like an idiot
8. use a full place setting properly, including chopsticks and Asian soup spoons
9. clean your place in under 45 minutes, when friends, relatives, or prospective lovers are coming by unexpectedly, and soon
10. hold your liquor
11. cure a hangover
12. do the Heimlich Maneuver
13. use a compass
14. change a flat
15. jump start a car
16. open a champagne bottle
17. send a drink to someone’s table
18. cook one “signature meal”
19. whistle with your fingers
20. take good pictures
21. fold a fitted sheet
22. remove common stains
23. sew a button
24. carve turkey, lasagna, and birthday cake
25. hold a baby
26. change a diaper
27. keep a plant alive for more than a year
28. make dogs and cats love you
29. help someone (an older or ill person, a woman you’re trying to impress, your mother) out of a car
30. write superior thank you notes

Apart from those that have to do with alcohol and driving a car, I would have to say I can probably do many of these things. But does being able to whistle with your fingers, wrap a present, or keep a plant alive (three that I may possibly fail at) really make you an adult?

What are some skills I have or want to develop, as I "put off childish things" and move into my 30s?

• Being able to call and make reservations, get information etc.
• Being able to book your own plane tickets online
• Being able to figure out a subway map in a strange city
• Knowing how to do your hair/makeup/accessorize
• Knowing when/how to appropriately answer emails
• Being able to resist impulse buys
• Gracefully dealing with inconveniences
• Baking perfect chocolate chip cookies
• Still knowing how to have fun
• Writing real letters
• Sticking to a budget
• Doing things that are good for you, even when you don't feel like it
• Being able to enjoy the company of those much older or younger than you
• Being able to speak in public
• Not taking yourself too seriously

Like I said, some of these I'm still developing....so don't hold your breath for a real letter from me, quite yet.