Hands-On Courses
When you were growing up, did your parents teach you how to cook? How to budget? How to clean a bathroom? How to wash a car? How to drive a stick shift?
These were all things that my parents must have taught me at some point because I came into adulthood knowing how to do them. (Well, maybe not the budgeting. I knew the basic, most important rule: always pay your tithing first. That got me by until I figured out the rest of it.) They were also skills that I absolutely needed to know, either in college or on my mission. But I took it for granted, assuming that learning how to do these things was no big deal. As a parent I kind of assumed that as my kids got older, they'd learn how to do those things without any help from me, kind of like a baby learns how to roll over and sit up without any parental guidance.
It dawned on me this summer that if I want my kids to be able to do these things, it would be so much better if I taught them, rather than just letting them figure it out as hapless adults. So I set three skills that I wanted to work with my kids on this summer:
As far as bathroom cleaning goes, I've only worked with B on it so far. Later today is J's first try. We'll see how it goes!
The dish washing has been going the best (probably because it's the easiest). The hardest part is stifling the picky part of me that doesn't like how they load the dishwasher. I keep telling myself this is about teaching my children, not about the most efficient dish washing, and I smother any desires to rearrange the load, except for minor tweaking if they need to fit a dish or two in. Terence has been helping with this, good man, so I don't always have to be standing over the sink with them.
My advice if you want to do something similar:
These were all things that my parents must have taught me at some point because I came into adulthood knowing how to do them. (Well, maybe not the budgeting. I knew the basic, most important rule: always pay your tithing first. That got me by until I figured out the rest of it.) They were also skills that I absolutely needed to know, either in college or on my mission. But I took it for granted, assuming that learning how to do these things was no big deal. As a parent I kind of assumed that as my kids got older, they'd learn how to do those things without any help from me, kind of like a baby learns how to roll over and sit up without any parental guidance.
It dawned on me this summer that if I want my kids to be able to do these things, it would be so much better if I taught them, rather than just letting them figure it out as hapless adults. So I set three skills that I wanted to work with my kids on this summer:
- Washing dishes
- Basic cooking
- Cleaning a bathroom
So far it's going all right. M already had some basic ability-- making grilled cheese sandwiches and putting frozen pizza in the oven. But we are going to work on making a few things from scratch so she can get some good practice. B has been a good assistant. The other day she helped me make chicken pot pie. Along the way she is learning about measuring and cooking on the stove without hurting herself. J made cheese biscuits this morning with only a little help from me and he did really well. They came out a bit toasty, but still tasted all right. I'm proud of them-- it's been a good experiment so far.
As far as bathroom cleaning goes, I've only worked with B on it so far. Later today is J's first try. We'll see how it goes!
The dish washing has been going the best (probably because it's the easiest). The hardest part is stifling the picky part of me that doesn't like how they load the dishwasher. I keep telling myself this is about teaching my children, not about the most efficient dish washing, and I smother any desires to rearrange the load, except for minor tweaking if they need to fit a dish or two in. Terence has been helping with this, good man, so I don't always have to be standing over the sink with them.
My advice if you want to do something similar:
- Pick household tasks that you are not super anal about. The kids are not going to meet your standard and you will just get frustrated. Stick to things that you can be happy with a "mostly good enough" job.
- Work side-by-side with your child. It keeps them on task and helps them really learn how to do something. Besides, then you are right there to catch your son before he pours a tablespoon of salt into the mixing bowl instead of a teaspoon!
- Teach one kid one thing at a time. Though I am teaching three kids how to clean bathrooms, they each have their bathroom day. Only one child at a time is trying out a recipe. On my calendar I've marked which days each child has dishes or the bathroom to do. That helps me keep my sanity and gives them better opportunity to learn one on one.
Anyway, it was kind of an ambitious plan, but at least it gives my kids something to do this summer besides sit in front of a screen! Hopefully by the end of the summer we will have three very adept helpers on the household front!
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