You have loved and nurtured your child for nearly two decades, but when their day of departure into the real world arrives, you're bombarded with anxiety: Have you taught him enough to survive without you? What will she do when she gets sick? Will he remember how to do his laundry?

While this book is a how-to manual, covering survival basics for young adults setting out to live on their own for the first time, it also serves as a journal for mothers-inviting them to personalize the guide by filling in their own advice and strategies regarding everything from health to cooking to...