Useful Things

On the pushy parent scale, with One being letting a kid wear a Halloween costume to church on Easter if that's what they want and Ten being forcing Holly into violin lessons right now and requiring two hours of practice a day, I'm trying to figure out where I would fall. Definitely not at either extreme- I'm hoping right in the middle?  It's all a balance of letting kids be free to be themselves while also teaching them how to be productive members of society.  I'd like to think that I let my kids choose their own activities and things they like to do, but then I also just realized that they're probably all going to have to try soccer and piano lessons.  They don't won't have to stick it out for years if they don't like it, but both are worth a try.

I volunteered for a shift at a pumpkin patch last week and as it was the middle of the day really early in pumpkin season, there was plenty of time to chat with my fellow worker.  We started talking about things that everyone who graduates from high school should be able to do, things that aren't necessarily taught in school.  The conversation started with how useful it would be if EVERYONE had a basic knowledge of all the major world religions.  That's Step 1 towards harmony in the world.

So here's the list we started with-

• swim
• cook 10 different meals (This is Jamie Oliver's thing and I think it's 10...some number of meals anyway.)
• ride a bike
• sew on a button
• basic carpentry, like using a screwdriver, hammer

What else?

In another conversation recently with friends, we discussed the challenges of learning an instrument as an adult.  You feel like because you're older you should be able to jump ahead.  "I mean, I'm 34 years old so I should be able to play the banjo!"  The reality is that you have to start at the beginning, just like every fourth grader with their first instrument.

There's just so much to learn!  Knowing how to play an instrument would be useful, but is not required.  Being kind, being brave,being generous please and thank you...nothing is more important.  But what are other concrete things to know?