Life Skills

In my opinion, one Seventh grade Home Economics course is not near enough to prepare anyone to run a home. Children must be taught skills early and often. Little ones are capable of emptying small garbage cans, straightening shoes, and dusting baseboards. As they grow older and more capable, bigger jobs should be assigned to them after you have patiently taught them what to do and exactly how to do it. Their first efforts won't be perfect, and yes, you could do it better, and faster yourself. The point is, they need to learn. And to learn, they must do. That being said, I have never settled for a job poorly done. When they are finished the task, you must inspect. If it does not meet your standards, gently tell them what they missed, etc. and have them do it again.

I recently presented Abigail with a junior cookbook.


I wish the book still looked like this!

She was thrilled and has been pouring over the pages, making lists of necessary ingredients, and menu planning. We agreed that she could make one dinner a week, and lunch and breakfasts at various times.

This morning, she woke early, and donned her apron. She consulted with me, cookbook in hand, as to whether or not I would give my permission for her to make breakfast cookies.

After scanning the page for ingredients, I told her she may. She disappeared into the kitchen, and I stayed out.

This may seem terrible to some of you for Abigail is just nine. I assure you that she is very responsible, and I did enter the kitchen for her to place the cookie sheet in the oven.

The true test though, is to see if she could follow the recipe with no help. And she did! She even remembered to place the egg shells in the compost bucket without being told!


She preheated the oven, gathered her ingredients, and got busy. When I entered the kitchen, it was a mess. Cabinets hung open, and boxes of cereal littered the floor, but she had followed the directions to a T, even using kitchen shears to cut up dried apricots! I supervised the cookies going into the oven, and she asked me to help her check them for done-ness when the timer went off. Other than that, she was on her own. And boy, was she ever happy!


Abigail set the table, and poured juice.

She was most pleased when Autumn and Collin went back for seconds!

And for good measure, they practiced their UNO skills while they ate as well. By the way, this is a common occurrence in our home. ;o) She had to clean the kitchen up, too.

I love that my girls can not only clean, but they cook, crochet, sew, and knit. They do laundry, and grocery shop. Tonight, Autumn is starting a cake decorating class. These skills will last them a lifetime.