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Yes, I know what you're doing... "Opining" isn't working out for you either. It was amusing to read your comments that a lot of your children's friends are "car guys" but neither your son, husband, or father is... Please tell me how you would even know what a car guy is or whether your children's friends are? Because I can tell you, they are almost definitely not.
It's a simple fact that kids today know how to do a lot less of the practical things in life. I also stated that it was due to parents not teaching them these things (which I suppose if you even want to attempt to argue that fact, please do so while explaining how a 2 income household family would get around to teaching these life skills, hmm?)
Simple facts. There's less parents around to teach their kids things, because there's more dual income families now than ever. More kids grow up going to daycare, so they aren't learning a lot of practical things that children used to. Vocational classes are being cut all across the country, leading to less children learning these things in school.
Now, you have an OPINION (and a faulty one at that, based on literally nothing) that disagrees with that factual assessment.
At any rate, I'm not going to argue anymore with someone who doesn't have the slightest inkling of what they are talking about.
Wait, so you know more about her kids and their friends than she does? And you have facts but she just has opinions. ok, then.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AllisonHB
How old is this child? I think I would resent someone going into my closet and drawers and rearranging everything to suit their own sense of order. Unless we are talking about a toddler or a kid who isn't dressing himself yet. Maybe he's showing you he resents your intrusions by refusing to "fold and put away". Learning that keeping his clothes organized benefits him in the long run seems like the lesson to teach (as he'll learn he can find the item he wants faster, that clean clothes are more pleasant than stinky ones and that favorite clothes last longer if he takes care of them). There are kids who care about neatness and those who don't. I think all of us go through phases when we are neat and when we don't care. A colleague of mine adopted a Chinese toddler who was a neatnick from a very early age. She would line up her tiny shoes and everything in her drawers before going to bed. My younger sister was the exact opposite and still is to this day. Clothes piled everywhere on every surface. Clean, but heaped.
He's 11. I find socks and underwear in with the shorts and shirts. I think he's still young enough that I'm teaching him how to organize. If he continues to reject my idea of organization, I will have to give up at some point.
Then what are the baseline life skills that parents should teach? Surely doing laundry, how to do basic house cleaning, basic food preparation, and money management.
Who decide that? You were just talking about car care. Is that not part of the baseline? At what point does the teen or young adult have to take it upon themselves to learn skills they are interested in? You would be hard-pressed to find a person who if competent in cooking, sewing, gardening, electrical work, wood working, plumbing, and car repair. People are busy. Even if they had a basic intro to all kinds of things, few people would have the time to practice every skill so that they became proficient and maintained that level of proficiency.
Then what are the baseline life skills that parents should teach? Surely doing laundry, how to do basic house cleaning, basic food preparation, and money management.
My list of BASICS (besides academics and sports and driving):
Etiquette
Money Management/Investment
Basic home repair
Basic car diagnostics/repair
Cooking
Nutrition
Working out
Cleaning/laundry
Basic outdoor survival skills
How to shop (anything from groceries to a home)
How to travel
How to approach applications (college, jobs, etc) and interviews
CPR/First Aid
But you know what they really try to teach you in college and med school and law school and other grad school programs? It's how to find the solution to a problem that you don't have the answer/knowledge for. Learning how to think, process, identify resources, and problem solve are the most important skills. So hurrah for youtube videos!
Learning from a book or a youtube video is no substitute for hands on training from someone who knows what they are doing.
Hands on training? Then you should love the idea of these classes. Or do you expect everyone to go to a technical school and become a certified electrician, plumber, auto mechanic, HVAC technician, etc... ?
Hands on training? Then you should love the idea of these classes. Or do you expect everyone to go to a technical school and become a certified electrician, plumber, auto mechanic, HVAC technician, etc... ?
I guess while parents are busy working full time and shuttling the kids to and from dance lessons and soccer practice, we're supposed to give classes in, well, everything in our down time.
When I went to school, there were classes called "shop" and "home ec" that pretty much everyone took. Basic things like home repair, changing a tire, changing oil, cooking, sewing, balancing a checkbook were all things taught in those classes. Then they were dropped in favor of more college prep courses.
So teaching "adulting" is nothing new. Schools did it for decades. It's just a different name.
Oh, and my mom used to roast chickens all the time for Sunday dinner. The basic rotation was something like roast beef, fried chicken, meatloaf, roast chicken, and start over. She even bought a rotisserie oven so we had it often, not just for Sunday dinner. She loved roast chicken though I didn't particularly care for it so I've only done it a couple of times in all the years since.
As a note, I do almost all the cooking in our family; my wife's mother didn't teach her at all. I'm a cooking merit badge counselor for Scouts and what's interesting is the Scouting program has ramped up the amount of cooking and personal finance required because kids aren't getting taught these life skills at home.
I guess while parents are busy working full time and shuttling the kids to and from dance lessons and soccer practice, we're supposed to give classes in, well, everything in our down time.
It's funny...because that's kind of how it is for me.
When I am home with the kids, I'm always trying to teach them something.
It's not always something good...my 5 year old is a card sharp now.
Luckily, he lets me bet in pushups/situps/squats. I'd be out a lot of $$.
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