What are you not good at?

Singapore
January 22, 2009 6:48pm CST
Recently a fellow mylotter started a discussion on what people are expert in. But I had difficulty asking that about myself. So I thought I'd ask this question instead. What are you most lousy in? For me, I'm lousy at cooking. I'm still contemplating whether I'm a lousy mother as well. I'm lousy at decorating. My house is simple and there are no fancy decor. So what are you not good at? Share your thoughts...
4 people like this
32 responses
@bombshell (11256)
• Germany
23 Jan 09
hmmm thats a good question.i am filipina and i am good in cooking. in my country philippines our specialty food is ADOBO but i am not good this kind of cooking.i am more expert in european foods specialy bavaria foods and with sauce of course.
1 person likes this
• Singapore
27 Jan 09
I hate to cook our local dishes either. They are either very unhealthy or very complicated to prepare. Western dishes are much easier to prepare, so I normally do just that. Pasta and sauce and we're done. Don't ask me to bake anythign either... It might just get burned. LOL! ADOBO sounds interesting...
• Philippines
23 Jan 09
Im really not good in singing,well its a talent,a gift from God, but I know some people who were able make their voices preetier. How i wished I could sing like Hailey Williams.LOL. You dont have to be a pro in cooking or decorating to be a good mom. Just be a good mom,and you'll be a great mom.(Sensible?) :)
1 person likes this
• Singapore
27 Jan 09
Hi pearlyjeanne, I can't sing. My hubby told me I sound nasal when I sing. So "encouraging"! Thank you for your enlightening words. Sometimes I feel lousy because I can't cook delicious food for my daughter. And she's very picky. So I can't seem to provide much choices for her because of my limitations in cooking abilities. I don't care about the decorating. My hubby does not mind either, he left everything to me when we started to decorate the house. And it turned out quite awful. Maybe I should redecorate it. I may have some ideas now. BUt too scared to try though.
@EvrWonder (3571)
• Canada
23 Jan 09
Good Question SydneyHazelton! I can't say that I am lousy at cooking. It is one this that I am good at. I think I am a pretty good Mom to my Yorkie Puppy dog, I am not famous at decorating either but I am comfortable. I live a simple life also. Nothing fancy. What I am not good at, at all is woodworking. I tried to make a simple birdhouse. A simple box with a slanted lid. It fell apart within the first week. Poor birds! Yet I can do drywall, I can demolish a building and I am great at painting. I can do body work and engine mechanics. For the life of me I can barely saw a piece of wood. Yet I can chop wood fine, with an axe. If I don't hot my thumb when I am hammering a nail, I make it go crooked. I have so many neat ideas. I see it in my mind and I can draw the plans but I am just so not good at woodworking, of any kind, I just don't bother even attempting it anymore because I have no skill, whatsoever. Definitely not an expert in construction. It really sucks. I wish I could build stuff. With wood, a saw and nails but I am not good at it, at all. Thanks for the discussion.
• Singapore
27 Jan 09
Evr wonder, If you have all these wonderful ideas, why not get someone else do the woodwork for you. I'm only good at handing tools over to my dad when I was young. He just gets me to hold things up for him when he can't do it alone. He's good at woodwork, or at least his ideas materialise quickly. He did some carpentering when he was young.
@patgalca (18181)
• Orangeville, Ontario
23 Jan 09
I am really lousy at ironing. It drives me crazy. I try and get one wrinkle out and create another.... or the iron leaves marks or stains on my clothes. I get blisters on my hands when I have a lot of ironing to do. I watched my cousin iron her husband's shirts one day. It took her less than a minute to do one shirt. It takes me half an hour, and that is not without a lot of grumbling with frustration. I'm not very good at entertaining. My husband says I'm a lousy hostess. Honestly, if someone drops by (which I hate to begin with; please call first) I don't offer them something to drink. And I don't like to keep certain beverages in the house so I usually don't have much to offer (another good reason why you should call first). And I can't seem to provide enough food to serve to more than my family of four. Sydney, you are too humble. There are some things that you are expert at and you know it. But people like you wouldn't want to brag. Or in my case, I'd hate to say I'm great at something and have people saying behind my back, "Is she kidding? No she's not!" Recently after listening to a Joyce Meyer CD I sat down and wrote 20 (came up with 18) things that are good about me. It is a good exercise to help you keep a positive attitude and good self-esteem.
@patgalca (18181)
• Orangeville, Ontario
26 Jan 09
It was not a song. It is a CD from a 4-CD set of her speaking at one of her conferences. She is a preacher of sorts. She explains the Bible in easy terms with simple every day examples. If have been watching her online ever since my television was persistently going on by itself in the early morning hours about two years ago. Since I started watching her the television stopped going on. I just love watching and listening to her. I have read one of her books and have another on hand; I get her monthly magazine; I have bought one set of CDs; she sent me one set free; and I have a DVD I have yet to watch. You can check her out at http://www.joycemeyer.org. She's very entertaining. And you are MORE than just OKAY at writing!!!
• Singapore
26 Jan 09
Hi Pat! I hate ironing too. Some people are charging $1.50 for ironing one piece of clothing. I was very tempted. I have always asked my hubby to buy those wrinkle free pants and shirts, but he doesn't like them. So I have to do the ironing. It's tough. I align the pants and run it once or twice, and that's about all I would do. Shirts take me more than 5 minutes. I time myself so that I won't waste so much time on one shirt. Wow! Your cousin can do it in less than 1 minute. Can she demo? I'm also a lousy hostess. I don't keep much beverages at home too, at least none that you serve to guests when they come unexpectedly. We always buy food if someone comes. I can't cook so have to buy. Thank you, Pat! You are so kind. I do have to look on the positive side and search for what I'm good at. I hope to do more writing soon, that's about one thing I'm okay at. I'm trying different strategies this year. I have not heard of Joyce Meyer. Which song are you referring to? Maybe I can check it out. I need some inspiration!
• Singapore
27 Jan 09
Thank you, Pat! You are so very encouraging.
@JanMags (724)
• Philippines
23 Jan 09
i'm pretty lousy at anything that has to do with numbers and math. sometimes i feel like i have a handicap because nearly everything in life has something to do with numbers. and the jobs that pay the most also have lots of math. i can say that life has been a struggle for me
• Philippines
23 Jan 09
im not good in cooking, all in household chores.. am only good in sleeping, eating. LOL and also i am good in internet surfing,, HAHAHAHA
• Singapore
24 Jan 09
Maybe you are suffering from dyscaculia, having difficulty with math. We are more familiar with dyslexia, but many do not know dyscalculia. Just came across the term recently. My hubby is also not good at math. No wonder he is over-spending all the time. LOL!
@JanMags (724)
• Philippines
24 Jan 09
hahaha. that's a good one. my husband is an engineer and is an ace in math but he still overspends. maybe he figured out that no matter how hard i save, we'll never be millionaires anyway. wow, so there really is such a condition? it makes sense though. if there is a condition for people who have difficulty reading, there must be one for people having difficulty with computations
@comfort55 (1574)
• India
23 Jan 09
I'm lousy at socialising. I don't get along well with most of the people, in other words you can say, I'm very picky in making new friends.
1 person likes this
• Singapore
27 Jan 09
I think I'm an anti-social. I have friends but none close to me. I think I work better alone.
@swatig (1183)
• India
30 Jan 09
I, also lousy at cooking and in singing songs as well.well, it is not related to each other coz i can cook at difficult times when mom is gone for some days and i can sing also if there is party of mine best friend but then its not considered tobe well done work. i know its not the task for me and similarly im lousy at many things from expressing views to others but its fine to fine.
• Singapore
31 Jan 09
When I'm forced to cook, because moms not around kinda thing, then I do some simple dishes. But that's about it. No fancy cuisine or anything like that. Singing, I just can't do it. I sound awful!! Anyway, we'll just make do with what we have.
@aj2006 (1534)
• Philippines
23 Jan 09
Hmmm, this is a very nice discussion friend!and the first thing that come into my mind is that I am a lousy singer! hehehehe! I can dance but I cannot sing.. I love to sing but singing doesn't love me.. :)
• Philippines
24 Jan 09
It's the other way around for me. I'm a good singer, but I'm a lousy dancer. I've been told that I become the life of the party when I dance, because everybody gets a good laugh! I inherited my father's non-terpsichorean genes -- he has two left feet and so do I.
• Singapore
26 Jan 09
Okay the both of you can exchange tips on how to be great singers AND dancers. I can't sing and dance. My hubby said I sound nasal when I sing. So frank of him to tell me so. I can't even dance to the HI-5 music. Think my two-year old can dance better.
@annjilena (5618)
• United States
29 Jan 09
don,t be so hard on yourself we can do anything we set our mind to maybe not not like other but we too can get it done if we need too.for me i can do anything i set my mind to doing.i for the most part i can learn if i don,t know how to do it.
• Singapore
29 Jan 09
I guess you are right. I used to think that I won't be able to write on demand. But recently I just did. I took up a writing assignment and wrote on a topic I wasn't pretty much interested in. even though I took longer than the specified time, but the experience gave me confidence to do more such assignments. I guess if we put our heart and mind to it, anything can be done. Thank you for the encouragement, annjilena!
@TheCatLady (4691)
• Israel
25 Jan 09
Cooking is easy if you use easy recipes. No need to e fancy. My mom hates to cook so she found tons of things are are easy and tasty to serve us. I didn't know she hated to cook until I grew up and found out she wasn't into making things that have a million steps.
• Singapore
29 Jan 09
I'm trying to use easy recipes. In fact, I'm even contemplating publishing a recipe book for people like me, using a few ingredients only. There are a few in the market already. Thanks for your suggestions.
@modstar (9605)
• Philippines
26 Jan 09
I not good at mathematics. In fact i'm worst! I failed two math subjects. lol! I'm glad the curriculum didn't need it when i shifted course. I only know the basic fundamentals of mathematics but never algebra and higher mathematics. It's something i really need to develop since it's essential in life.
• Singapore
29 Jan 09
Sometimes I do not see the essential of math in life, except in a few areas. Unless you intend to pursue a career requiring the use of higher math, I don't see a need to be so concerned about not being good in math. I may be wrong, though.
@modstar (9605)
• Philippines
29 Jan 09
You're partly right. It's not like we're going to be scientists right?
25 Jan 09
Embarrassingly enough, I'm not very good at time management on the computer! I set myself a maximum time limit of, for example, half an hour, plenty of time to do everything I need to do, and then I end up spending hours trawling through sites such as MyLot and other sites, review sites and survey sites! This obviously sacrifices time for other things, such as DIY, another area where I am weak! In fact, I'm lousy at it. My wife is far more equipped to do odd jobs around the house than I am. I can barely use a screwdriver! Still, I'm sure there are many things I'm good at, and I hope they make up for the things I'm lousy at!
• Singapore
29 Jan 09
I know surfing the net can take up a lot of time, sorry, I should say waste a lot of time. I'm here at mylot again, instead of doing something more productive that can earn me some money, like writing or something else. I'm terrible. The other day I took up a writing assignment and did not finish it by the due date. I'm so distracted by so many other things.
• Philippines
30 Jan 09
Hello,I am very much lousy in writing by pen, I love researching, and learning new stuff but I hate the Idea that I will be writing by pen, I would simply type manually for things I would like to keep in record...I don't even have good hand writing. I also like to adventure by sea , I love boating,and water surfing, I love to watch sea creatures which I used to do . But really until now I do not know how to swim.I hope I could improve someday, haha
• Singapore
31 Jan 09
Writing in pen, that's something new. In fact, I think it's great. You won't have all these loose sheets of paper to remind you of this and that. It would also mean that you are helping to save the environment. You also won't have all these notebooks lying around like I have. It's not like I love handwriting, sometimes it's just inconvenient to switch on the computer to type something in it, so I write them down instead with my ugly handwriting. LOL! I cna't swim that well either, never had any proper formal training. We had a trainer for a few weeks, but I doubt she was a qualified one. But I did learn a bit then, but did not pursue after a few weeks.
@umcane86 (65)
• United States
29 Jan 09
I'm an awful artist. I mean absolutely horrendous. I don't think there are many first graders that draw inside the lines that are worse than me. I stay inside the lines, but not much beyond that!
• Singapore
29 Jan 09
My hubby tried to teach me to draw one afternoon, but I could not manage to draw a single picture. He's definitely more creative than me. Now that we got my daughter an easel, she wants me to draw things for her, but I can't. So I let my hubby do the drawing. I think we both have to find other things we are better at.
@carolbee (16230)
• United States
23 Jan 09
There are so many things I am not good at doing especially when it comes to the house and being a domestic wife. I don't cook well and the list could go on. I don't decorate very well either. Just no ideas that appeal to me. My husband doesn't seem to care as long as he has clean clothes. I was really good at raising kids and now being a part of our grandkids lives.
• Singapore
28 Jan 09
That's good that you are good at raising kids. I think that is very important, more important than doing any housework or cooking. I hope I can be a good enough mum for my daughter.
@checapricorn (16061)
• United States
23 Jan 09
[i]I am not good in cooking and ironing! LOL! I always try cooking but I do know the taste is just horrible! LOL! When I will also iron, I can't perfect it the way I like it especially slacks and long sleeves! LOL! [/i]
• Singapore
27 Jan 09
We are in the same boat. I hate these two chores too. I'd rather clean the toilet, which I probably do more often than ironing and cooking. I do the very minimum for ironing. As long as most of creases are gone, I'd hang it up. As for cooking, I don't know how, but given time I think I can work it out.
@apples99 (6556)
• United States
23 Jan 09
Huh well I'm not good at spelling and my cooking still needs a little work, but other then that I really cant think of anything else, I know that might sound wrong or somthing but when it comes to other things like being creative I'm pretty good at things like that.
• Singapore
28 Jan 09
Great to know that you are the creative sort. I try to be creative, but I'm not so good with that. I need people to jog me with ideas, then I expand on them. You don't need to be a great speller, you just need a great spell checker! Thank for your response!
@GemmaR (8517)
23 Jan 09
I can't cook! It might be because I have never really had much practice at cooking, but I know I can't cook many different things! I can just about make pastry, so I can make all things to do with that, and I am quite good at following instructions on packets.. but that's about it really!
• Singapore
27 Jan 09
Me too...I'm so terrible at cooking. I'm doing pasta and sauce from the bottle, that's about it. My mac and cheese did not turn out right the other day, after following all the instructions! I'm pathetic. LOL!
@henahuda (158)
• Australia
23 Jan 09
this is a really a nice topic.its important to know in what all we as a human being are not good at.i think i am not good at probably controlling myself from spending money on shopping.whenever i go out i have to spend money here and there and i feel that before its too late i should start respecting money.i really think i need to work on this a lot.
• Singapore
27 Jan 09
I have cut down on shopping a lot, since I started staying home to look after my daughter. I'm relying on my savings a lot, thus can't afford to shop. It takes a lot of self-control in order to stop yourself from spending, but it can be done, if you really want it. Good luck and thank you for your response!
• India
25 Jan 09
hi frnd...........i'm bit lousy in science especially bio...........i found it really boring.......i am also lousy in interecting with other people my frnd can do that.eg: there was a party me and my 6 frnd went there as it was my another frnd sister party........in party there must be girl also...so they were easily interect with each other as if they r nowing each other for a year but i can't.....
• Singapore
29 Jan 09
Interacting with people needs practice and sometimes we need to overcome our shyness. I used to be quite shy, still is. But over time, I believe in my own abilities and gained confidence. There is no need to pretend to be someone else, just you. It takes time, but remember that you are special.