Teaching life skills
By Sissy15
@sissy15 (12869)
United States
June 27, 2026 12:38pm CST
As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been teaching my son to cook, with the goal being for him to cook at least once or twice a week. He made dinner on Thursday with me, once again telling him what to do and him doing it. He made some pretty decent beef enchiladas. He was so proud of himself. He always gives me a sigh when I tell him he's making dinner, but once he gets into it, he enjoys it. I told him he's not going to be an adult who doesn't know how to take care of himself. I was so fortunate to have a dad who involved us in making dinner. I remember when I had to take a cooking life skills class in Jr. High, we had to take and pass a written test on cooking before we were allowed to cook. In a class of 15, 4 of us passed it, and we were the first group that was allowed to cook. It was because I spent years watching and helping my dad in the kitchen. I love my mom, but cooking was never one of her skills. When she was younger (she was born in the 40s) she was standing in the kitchen and she told me how but I don't remember the explanation, but she ended up catching on fire, and my uncle had to put her out and my mom had to get burn treatments for part of her childhood, you can barely see her burn scars now, but ever since then my grandma wouldn't let her around the stove so she never learned how to cook properly. She can make a few things really well, but beyond that, she has no idea how to use seasonings, so most of her food is bland.
My dad and his twin brother were the oldest of my grandma's children, with his dad, so my dad had to help my grandma a lot, something he's now annoyed about because his twin never had to do anything, and there were a lot of unfair expectations for him. He tried to include my brother and me in things whenever we asked, but never made us do anything apart from the dishes, which we hated; if it weren't for my dad, I probably wouldn't have any life skills. I love my mom, but she wasn't one to teach us things; to her credit, she was also always working to support us since my dad went on disability when I was a baby. He was unable to work due to a lot of health problems, and his inability to read made finding a job near impossible. He was fired from his previous factory job, and the world became more geared to those able to read, even if they could do the job without reading. He became a stay-at-home dad who put teaching us life skills on his priority list. My dad could be incredibly lazy and seldom had any idea where we were most of the time, but he still took time out to teach us things. He had a ton of patience. I have tried to teach my son the way my dad taught me. A child learns best through watching and doing with guidance and support. No one learns well when they're being screamed at. Once we get cooking done, I think it might be time to teach him how to write checks and make sure he knows how to address an envelope. I've found that that's no longer taught in school, even though when I was a kid, I remember spending time learning how to address one, but with the digital world, it's seldom that people send things in the mail anymore, but it's still a needed skill for when you can't pay something online.
2 people like this
2 responses
@sissy15 (12869)
• United States
27 Jun
Thank you. I think every child should learn basic skills, and somewhere along the line, basic life skills took a back seat to learning academics, which are important, but some things we are learning are less important than learning how to survive in the world. Reading and basic math are incredibly important, but beyond that, nothing should take the place of learning basic life skills. I love history a lot, but knowing the year the Titanic sank (1912) should not replace knowing how to write checks or cook. I've also been teaching my son how to grocery shop properly to save money and find the right produce.
2 people like this
@sissy15 (12869)
• United States
27 Jun
@Wrexxo Thank you, and the issue is that so many parents aren't teaching their children these skills. Working in a school, I learned how few children have basic reading and math skills, let alone basic survival skills. Parents are too busy, sometimes through no fault of their own, but trying to survive, other times they're too lazy and just give their kids a screen and don't spend real time with them. I'm not saying screens are entirely bad; they aren't, but so many parents aren't parenting anymore and some are too hands-on and refuse to let their children do anything for themselves, there is seldom a middle ground. Some parents really are trying their best and doing a great job, but others leave me scratching my head as to how they expect their children to survive. When we aren't here anymore, they need to be able to live in the world without us.
2 people like this
@sissy15 (12869)
• United States
28 Jun
Thank you, I'm just trying to make sure he enters the world with some basic life skills, not that he'll use them all lol. He literally starved yesterday because I didn't feel like making dinner and told him it was fend for yourself night. I ended up making him a PBJ sandwich when I made myself one; otherwise, he wouldn't have eaten anything. He knows how to do things, but would rather just not eat than actually make food. If he got hungry enough, I think he'd eventually make something, but probably nothing I've taught him to make. The enchiladas were pretty simple, so he might end up making those if he got desperate enough. His biggest thing is he knows we have a if you use it, you wash it rule in this house that I had to implement because my husband and son were leaving me a sink full of dishes every night after I did dishes, and I got tired of all of the mess when I didn't make it, so for my own sanity, I made said rule and now I've found they would both rather starve than wash a dish.
1 person likes this
