Teaching Elegance & Homekeeping
Well, a new journey has begun with my daughter. As most of you have heard she has started high school! That means that she is getting closer to moving out and beginning her own journey as a woman.
I have been working with my daughter each year trying to teach her ways to clean, cook, and take care of herself. Last year we worked on the laundry. I taught her how to separate clothes, how to work the washer and dryer, and how to properly fold.
She was in 8th grade and I felt like that was the time to teach her that. We also worked on how to make pasta. She likes rigatoni with shredded cheese so I taught her how to make that in addition to making steam rice, roast chicken, and cleaning our rice cooker.
Trying to find the right moments and age to teach her things is difficult. You can try to teach your children everything under the sun when they are 7 or 8 but are they absorbing it? I have learned that each child has their own way of learning and walk by their own course.
I shared on my YouTube channel that I am reading a book called The English Etiquette. It’s been a wonderful read with lots of tips and hints on etiquette at home and at work. I am still in the first part of the book and author Alena Pettitt gave a list of items that your teenagers should be able to do while they are in high school. I wanted to share that list.
* Operating a vacuum cleaner
* Changing bed-sheets
* Replenishing bathroom consumables
* Dividing laundry and operating a washing machine on a basic wash cycle
* Correctly filling and emptying the dishwasher
* Making a cup of tea
* Buttering toast
* Making a sandwich
* Preparing a simple hot meal such as beans or fried egg on toast. (An English meal I presume, so I am working on pancakes with my daughter)
* Preparing vegetables
* Obtain profound knowledge and awareness of personal (we worked on shaving last year) and household hygiene (I taught her how to clean her bathroom)
* Taking out the rubbish and replacing bin bags
* Going to the local shop and confidently buying items for the household from a basic list (I do this every week and she sees me)
And lastly
* Administering basic First Aid and responding calmly and efficiently in an emergency (The school taught this last year but may need to rehearse this at home)
I thought this was a great list! If anything you can glean some ideas from it. I love it! Teaching our children and how to live well is huge. Especially now in this world today, everything is just handed to them. Learning to work and take care of your home can give you a sense of pride and order. Something that is greatly missing today. I have some friends who can’t cook or clean and I wonder all the time how they get through life.
Keeping a beautiful home is one of the greatest jobs on earth to me. I love walking into my home each evening and seeing my beautiful bouquets, starting my dinner for the night, and folding a basket of laundry while watching one of my favorite movies. Your home doesn’t have to be big and you don’t have to have a lot of money just a willing heart. Teach your children and lead.
Thanks for reading!
(photos via Pinterest & Mrs. Shockley)
This is such a beautifully written blog post. Wow! I will be coming back to re-read this. I am with you, that homekeeping is one of the greatest jobs on earth. Thank you, thank you for putting this out there! You are quite the blessing.
Hi Mya,
Thank you for the compliment! I have already marked this in my book to re-read down the road. I love Alena's tips! Home-keeping is so important. There is such great reward in it for you and your family. I love homekeeping and wish more people did. Thank you for calling me a blessing! I always hope that my posts are blessings to those who read them.
I think it is fantastic that you have taken the time to educate and train your daughter in these household skills. Many young professionals are now taking life skills courses,in such things as folding and ironing! You are a great mum. Good for the boys to learn as well, so they can be better partners in life. June
Hello June!
I believe that the high schools seriously need to have life skill classes! It would be great to teach them how to manage their money, bill paying, credit scores, mortgages, etc. They also need to learn some home-keeping skills and cooking skills. I think it would make a world of difference in their lives.
Thank you for the compliment! I try my best to teach my daughter all I can. I agree with you about the boys. They should learn how to take care of a home also!