Preparing our kids for adulthood is a large, complicated task. Something as simple as knowing which over-the-counter meds to take when you have a cold takes some practice to learn.  Young adults can figure a lot of things out on their own. The idea is not to try to teach them 100% of what they need to know to function independently. However, not having a good baseline of skills makes it more stressful for a new college student or new employee or new apartment dweller to make all the adjustments to their new life. Having a baseline of skills will lessen their stress. It's not just the young adults who need the new skills. As parents of adults, we need new skills ourselves for how to communicate with them, how to separate ourselves, and how to carve out a new role for ourselves in the relationship.