WHY are you old style?......

bellaquidsin

Twenty or so year's ago I had a friend round for Sunday Dinner. We had slow roasted pork hock (very cheap in those days) and she thought it was delicious but did not have a clue what it was. She was a Domestic Science teacher.

I spent the whole afternoon teaching her to knit as she had to teach it to her class the following day.

Seems to me there was a great dearth of OS skills even in those days and it's probably even worse now.

Well done OP for wanting to give it a try. I have always found it a satisfying and fulfilling way to live.

Right, now back to the knitting.....,

Bella.

Pink.

Hi Angel_Jenny,

For me Old Style is a way of life. I was lucky enough to have a wonderful mother who taught me a lot of my Old Style ways. Unfortunately she died before I learned all that I would have liked, but I think she must have passed some of her genes on to me as at throughout my life (both in frugal and more affluent times) I have always enjoyed making every penny stretch. That's what MSE is about after all....making the most of what we have.

There's an existing thread along similar lines to this one:

WHY are you old style?......

I'll merge them both later.

Pink

misskool

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

I learnt to knit, sew, cook with my mother and grandmother. My dad taught me to garden, home maintenance and basic car stuff No-one taught me housework :rotfl:

I wouldn't trust my mother to do any or most of the skills I have. She was too scared for me to use her singer treadle sewing machine so I learnt to sew by hand first. She was too scared for me cook (we have gas stoves) so I just upped and did it. She doesn't knit, doesn't do much ironing etc. :rotfl::rotfl:

My dad doesn't garden, bar pruning an odd branch but he did teach me how to change a tyre and how to sort out the engine oil

I'm VERY grateful for having the internet for giving me the breadth of knowledge in the world so I can pick up skills that my parents weren't very good at that I could learn.

My grandparents all passed away when I was young so I never even knew them.

Penelope_Penguin

I can see I';m a lone voice here then It's just a bugbear with me that as a society we ask schools to fill the gap in teaching which used to be done within the family

Don;t get me wrong, I'm all for youngsters learning new skills, but do tell which lessons you'd sacrifice to make way for Old Style Skills lessons?

Please don;t say they should be after school - that's not always convenient for children to stay after they've already had a long day learning

HariboJunkie

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

I can see I';m a lone voice here then It's just a bugbear with me that as a society we ask schools to fill the gap in teaching which used to be done within the family

Don;t get me wrong, I'm all for youngsters learning new skills, but do tell which lessons you'd sacrifice to make way for Old Style Skills lessons?

Please don;t say they should be after school - that's not always convenient for children to stay after they've already had a long day learning

What lessons replaced the old Home Economics classes which, when I was at school taught all aspects of home management? If they were (as I suspect) things like Modern Studies or Personal and Social development etc, then yes, I would like to see them replaced with practical skills classes to encompass what we would see as Old Style ways.
You were lucky to learn from your parents and grandparents those things you did. Many of us, for many reasons have not been so lucky. My grandparents for a number of reasons (death or disinclination being but two) taught me nothing. My Mother taught me to cook but died before I had a chance to learn her sewing skills and my father passed on what he could but was an extremely busy single parent.
I would like to see schools providing a safety net for those who don't have parents who are able to teach them these skills, for whatever reason that may be.

misskool

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

I can see I';m a lone voice here then It's just a bugbear with me that as a society we ask schools to fill the gap in teaching which used to be done within the family

Don;t get me wrong, I'm all for youngsters learning new skills, but do tell which lessons you'd sacrifice to make way for Old Style Skills lessons?

Please don;t say they should be after school - that's not always convenient for children to stay after they've already had a long day learning

I didn't go to school in this country but we had a bit in school called "life skills" so it was part of the curriculum from about 11-15. So there were lessons on changing a fuse in a plug to soldering things together, making food, with some baking (we had a real kitchen to use but I know that's not the case now in many schools), some sewing, some woodwork, etc. It was an hour once a week in between everything else.

You had to do ALL the lessons (no sexism there!) so got to know a bit of everything.

Most of the skills I have now that are OS, it's just being picked up as and when I need them, I made and baked my own shortcrust pastry a few months ago!. Things don't need to be constantly TAUGHT all the time. I was given 8 years of piano lessons and I can't even play the scales now :rotfl:

Angel_Jenny

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

I can see I';m a lone voice here then It's just a bugbear with me that as a society we ask schools to fill the gap in teaching which used to be done within the family

Don;t get me wrong, I'm all for youngsters learning new skills, but do tell which lessons you'd sacrifice to make way for Old Style Skills lessons?

Please don;t say they should be after school - that's not always convenient for children to stay after they've already had a long day learning

I'm normally the lone voice out in the "real" world!

Ideally I would have learnt at home but this isn't always possible. Even now I struggle to fit it in as I work full time, am studying for a degree and, with my home situation being as it is, I am a part time carer too. I want to learn the practical skills I am missing though!

I have checked around in the local area and there aren't any classes available as a sort of catch up for adults. There is one card making group but it is on an afternoon while I am at work. There is a WI in a nearby village which I think would be a good idea.

Angel Jenny :A

rosieben

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

I can see I';m a lone voice here then It's just a bugbear with me that as a society we ask schools to fill the gap in teaching which used to be done within the family ...

I think you're very lucky to have had the sort of upbringing that you had Pen Pen; I'm quite envious because children should learn from their parents and grandparents; I was lucky enough to be at school when Domestic Science was considered an important part of the curriculum (metalwork and carpentry etc for the boys, would love to have done those too ) but that didnt cover a fraction of what I could have learnt at home if my mother had any interest at all in teaching me

Sweet_Pea_2

I am lucky in that I don't have to be OS because both OH and I work and money is not really tight, but since I started Oldstyling in earnest our money has stretched so much further. It amuses me to see how our family is "judged" by those around us. Some think we are not too well off because we don't "do" big brands in anything - clothing, bags, food, in fact I have never got the need for designer named things at all. They see the food in our lunchboxes is home made or has an Aldi label, and I don't buy expensive coffee at the coffee shop but I take a flask to work. Our cars are not expensive models and are not new either. I like charity shop shopping and the kids have hand me downs.
Then there are others who think we are well off because of the things we can afford to do.
Things we wouldn't be able to afford to do without OS.

I like cooking, cleaning, sewing, ironing, all the traditional home crafts. I was lucky enough to be raised in a home in which I didnt have ready meals, I saw my parents budgeting for things, my dad did his own car repairs, my uncles and friends dads grew their own veg, took cuttings and had greenhouses, my aunties and my mum knitted and made curtains and passed down kids clothes, so I was raised in an OS way without even thinking about it. All those skills were there and came back to me as I became more OS. I am trying to get my kids interested, and also not just to buy them things for Chrsitmas like phones and clothes etc, but also to include things they can keep and use in the future, like sewing boxes and cook books etc.

I agree these are all life skills and really should be taught at home, but what about kids whose families just dont do these things or have the skills to pass on? I know lots of kids friends whose families are happy to spend the best part of the weekend at the local shopping mall, and haven't got a clue how to sew on a button. The skills need to come from somewhere, and schools did use to teach these things years ago, I think money management and balancing your account, budgeting for bills and all of that needs to be taught too - its fantastic to have a fancy degree but if you can't cook yourself a basic meal and manage your money and get your clothes clean then you've got problems.

I don't really know why being OS appeals to me really, I am just really attracted to anything "thrifty" even people I meet who appear to be "thrifty" I instantly want to know more about them. I don't seem to meet many of these people in real life though, I wonder where they all hide!

HariboJunkie

Sweet_Pea wrote: »

, I wonder where they all hide!

In the reduced aisle in Tesco.

I should also say that luckily my sister is considerably older than me and learned much from our mother which she continues to pass on to me on an almost daily basis. Isn't that right Pink-winged? :A:kiss: