I read this email from a group I subscribe to called FLYlady.net. This is a lifestyle group for people who are finally loving themselves enough to live in peaceful surroundings (i.e. not chaos and squalor), promote their own well-being as a gift to those they love, and pass on habits to future generations that will help them lead their best life.
Dear Friends,
When many of us were in high school we got to take a home economics class. I always took it because I hated study hall. So along with 4 years of math, science, language arts and band; I had 4 years of Home Economics. I loved the class. I learned how to speak publicly in FHA(Future Homemakers of America). I would not take anything for the things I learned in those classes. I also had a grandmother that taught me how to sew when I was eight years old. I made my first pair of pajamas and learned to sew flat felted seams before I even knew what they were (seams on jeans). I was lucky; I had someone that took the time and had the patience to teach me new skills.
Lots of children today do not have this luxury. I call it a luxury because our families are separated by miles and it is not easy forgrand children to spend much time with their grandparents. Today's teenagers do have the pleasure of a home economics class either. They graduate from high school and are tossed out on their own without even the basic skills of homemaking. Yeah they had their chores around the house; but what happens when their parents are perfectionists? They either get yelled out for not doing it right or they are told to just go to their room; I had rather do it myself. I believe that patience is a lost virtue these days because of perfectionism rearing its ugly head.
It is up to us to help teach the younger women and men that homemaking is a way to bless ourselves. We all deserve to live in a home thathugs us daily; not just when company is coming over. These skills do not come naturally to most of us. Someone had to teach us these things. It took patience on all our parts to learn these new skills...
This past week I was interviewed by a parenting magazine. This reporter was worried about the young wives and husbands of our servicemen and women. Many have recently married and moved away from their family and friends and have very little support in their new community. I realize that there are support services in place for these young families. They are afraid to ask for help. She went to visit the OBGYN clinic at one base and every young woman there
was so quiet. She started up a conversation with them and asked them what was their main concerns were for the future when theyhad to deal with their husbands being gone. They wanted to know how tokeep their house clean, how to cook and how to manage their money.
So here is my question for you; if you were just starting out and knowing what you know now, what would you recommend for a young person to have as a tool to teach them how to keep house, manage their finances, cook, and most of all take care of themselves? How can we help them? Not just in our military communities but this is a problem in all communities. Young men and women are just expected to know and they have not had the resources that we have had. Now in their defense they are computer literate...
I want to help these young families, but I can't do it without you.This next week let's tell a young family about what has helped us in our home. It is your testimonial that is worth more than anything:tell them about how routines, babysteps and letting go of our clutterand perfectionism will help them! This is a way for us to Pay it Forward!
This piece says less about homemaking and more about survival to me. Being taught how to care for ourselves and our families is one thing. But the application of these lessons is self preservation at its best. For the second hip hop generation where will these things most likely be learned? Well, not unlike the author or myself some of these things will be learned at school. While there is no Home Ec for them, there must be a "re-education" of sorts to compensate for what I call a lack of survival skills. The quality of life for us all hinges upon how successful we are at teaching youth how to survive AND thrive.
