What have you taught your kids lately to be self r

[hillbilly_mom]

Have you taught your kids anything about being self reliant lately?

Give me some fresh ideas of stuff I can teach my kids. :)

[bookwormom]

well, what can they do already? do you have mending/darning supplies? It can come in mighty handy to know how to darn your socks.

[hillbilly_mom]

Both can sew on a button and the 17yo can darn a sock. He is learning to quilt, though he doesn't want his buddies to know it. ;D

Both (6yo and 17yo) know how to butcher meat and wrap it for freezing. The 17yo is learning to pressure can it.

Both know how to store water and food for SHTF times. ;)

Stuff like that.


I was wondering if there were any new stuff I can teach them. Off the wall stuff that would be neat to teach my kids and could make it a part of their school work.

[mangyhyena]

Not sure if you've covered this with your children or not, but how about finances?

They can learn to hunt down the best deal at the grocery store, never paying more than they have to. They can learn to earn money doing odd jobs, learning to save or "pay themselves first" along the way.

If they learn only to pay themselves first then by the time they're 30 they'll have financial resources, even if they worked low paying jobs the whole time.

I wish I had learned that lesson early.

[hillbilly_mom]

Since I am handicapped, DS is my cart pusher when we do the big monthly grocery shopping trip. I make it part of his schoolwork to find me the best bargain. some times I will add coupons into the mix to see if he can figure out if the name brand is cheaper with the coupon off, or is the generic cheaper. No longer can you assume that the bigger package is the cheapest deal. I have taught him how to find the unit price. We take 2 calculators when we go shopping. When DD goes with us I have her try to do it also, but on a smaller scale, since she is so much younger.

DD has the paying herself first down pat. DS? He goes through money like it grows on trees. ::) WE have tried to preach to him about it constantly, with no sucess. He, I think, will have to learn the hard way, just like we did.

Yet, he wants to be an over the road truck driver. He sees the mistakes his uncle makes in choices of spending his money. He will tell me how he can get such and such cheaper. How he can check books out from the library at home, or get them used from a resale shop, instead of buying them new, so he will have entertainment. So I guess something sticks in his head all of these years of preaching.

[disleksic]

Hey hillbillymom my 17yr old is the same way we preach and preach and preach but he cant keep a quarter in his pocket hes got to spend it like you said hes got to learn the hard way the same way I learnd and I guess Im still learning

[Weezin]

Hi All: Weezin here, father of four. 50/50 on the self-reliance skills.
Oldest son,40, can't spend it fast enough.If there is money left in his pocket he will go buy D.V.D.'s.
Daughter,37, her idea 0f stocking up, is when her favorite make-up goes on sale, and "Glamor Magazine"
oh well....
Son,35, lives on 8 acres that he owns outright, house built, clear title, Pays his electric bill 8 months up forward to see him through the winter and makes a Costco run in the fall to see himself through the winter.
He also bought 40 acres of remote property last Sept. and already has it half paid off.
Daughter, 31, mother of 2 , larger pantry, money set back, soccer mom and a good wife and mother. And has never asked us for a dime.....
Oh Well, 2 out of four ain't bad, I guess
.........................................Dennis... .......

[Cumberland]

Raiased in the same house but so different?Ill dare and take it one step further oldest son came into the world looking for action.wide awake ,youngest son born a old man likes it quiet From the moment you saw them there personality was there what would I know, my former x of 24 years a accomplished phd in pysch early childhood development.?what You saw at moment one is what you got.?right or wrong?

[Cumberland]

Im hoping to teach my sons how to deal with disaster of the worst kind.Its two years down the road when you look back and say how did I handle it teaching them how to tie a knot in monofilimant line is the fun part teaching them to survive tradgededy is harder.one knows which way the wind blows the other is clueless kinda like the book and movie "a river runs through it" the last line is where the father who lost his party animal hellvacious fisherman son peers over his glasses and tells the other son he was beautiful?each has there own charm.accept you're blessings wealth is measured by the number of plates on the table come holidays.

[Weezin]

Hi Cuberland: Bitch session ?

Two weeks ago or so , we had a tidal wave warning after the 8.3 earth quake in eastern Russia.
I went down to the 40 y.o sons place to tell them about the alert. We had a power outage at the time.
He and his girl friend were sitting in the dark without a clue.
So I came home and got a hand crank radio and a bag of candles. Then ofered them a night at our house, where the generator was running and our computers were keeping up with updates on our situation.
But NO, I don't get it....
The Tidal wave did'nt happen, but better safe than sorry......
My 2 cents............Dennis

[Cumberland]

Bitch session?yes but a reality check as well

[Weezin]

Cumberland: A big 10-4....
Buy them books and all they do is eat the covers.....
.............................Dennis............... ...........

[remington]

Teach them to shoot and hunt. Deer hunting is an excelent way to stock up on meat and plants a respect for nature in them.

[Sunny]

I didn't know how much my daughter had absorbed until I met her friends (ages 14-15) who were new to camping. They didn't know:

1) Basic first aid--how to use the stuff in the little kits they dutifully brought.
2) How to light a propane burner without burning off their eyebrows or fingertips.
3) How to start a campfire without burning down the campground.
4) How to wash dishes at camp (no sink :o).
5) How to deal with insects, ants, mosquitoes, etc.
6) How to change the batteries in their flashlights.
7) The difference between deer scat and bear scat and why that's important.
8) What to do in the woods without a cell phone and an IPod.