It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

Floss

@Bluegreen143 well done on the life skills & boundary setting - children need to have those skills taught & it's a major part of their development.

I remember when I was about 6 I made my parents breakfast in bed - toast with butter & marmalade with a cup of coffee each. However I wasn't allowed to use the kettle without one of them there so I used the hot tap! 🤢😂

Woolsery

greenbee said:

The H&S issues at school may well be the result of parents complaining/concerned that their kids will cut/burn themselves.

They will most likely be decisions made in the light of county guidance and written down somewhere in the school's documentation.

It's creeping dependency culture and it's been going on for a long time. Way back in the 1990s, in the light of some school trip tragedies, I was told our children on the year Year 6 school journey would no longer be allowed to go in the sea. So, they were  spending 5 days at/near the seaside and not even allowed to paddle. I tried it for one trip, using a local private pool by way of compensation, but the scary situations which arose with play equipment, concrete edging and bored lifeguards was more than I could take and I stopped doing the weeks after that.

Wednesday2000

I'm not even sure that this is a new thing. When I went to uni in the 90's there were quite a few students that I had to show them how to use the washing machines in the launderettes on campus. Lots of them would bring their dirty washing bags home to their mums at weekends.

Brambling

Floss said:

I remember when I was about 6 I made my parents breakfast in bed - toast with butter & marmalade with a cup of coffee each. However I wasn't allowed to use the kettle without one of them there so I used the hot tap! 🤢😂

i remember my nephew doing the same for my sister on her birthday when he was 6 as he knew he wasn't allowed to boil the kettle, no toast but a cold croissant spread thick with marmite so it was black.  She ate it but hid the marmite before Mothers day!

Toonie

I was a very early bird when I was a child. In order to not wake my parents, they told me I was allowed to pour myself a cup of milk in the morning and have some toast or, on the weekend, I was allowed a digestive biscuit. When my Dad would get up for work at 5am he would often find me sat in the living room with a huge book on my lap and I'd be looking at the pictures and sipping my milk having finished my toast.

I remember home economics at high school when I was 12, we had five lessons. Lesson one was making a sandwich, lesson two, scones, lesson three was pasties (ready rolled pastry). These were all things I could already do. The last two lessons were about shoppings lists and cleaning a kitchen.

I still have friends now who can not cook from scratch and if anything it gets worse as some use meal boxes and get everything delivered in portions so they add all the little bits when the card tells them. They've no idea how to cook and certainly wouldn't know what to do if/when faced with shortages or price rises beyond their capabilities.

Siebrie

DD1 was taught how to make apple pie, individual ones, where you have readymade pastry, fill it with apple, fold it over and bake. She was taught to cut the apple and cook it with raisins, cinnamon, etc, and then put it on the pastry. Which is nonsense, there is no need to pre-cook the filling; it's a waste of time and energy, and creates extra washing up.

Woolsery

I remember friends being shocked  when I said our child had been allowed to load the video recorder and watch or record things on it since the age of 3.

They would say things like "Don't the tapes get tangled-up?" or even "Won't she decide to put a sandwich in there to see what happens?"

I'd say, "No, she's been shown how it works, how to check the tape, which way to wind, what not to touch etc"

They were doubtful, but 17 years later it was still going strong, having been through the hands of both kids and by then seriously outmoded by DVD!

EssexHebridean

Kaylataste said:

I wouldn't blame the teacher,i would blame the health and safety executive.The poor teacher probably thinks its as ridiculous as the rest of us.

Sadly it's far more likely to be someone misinterpreting what Health & safety actually prescribes! Almost always when someone blames Health & safety for something that can't be done, they're referring to what they think should be the case rather than what the HSE actually says. 


@Bluegreen143 I heartily applaud your approach! 

Brambling

Not sure if it is a sign that i'm getting old I went to school in the 70s or it was the benefit of village schools? we were taught not only cooking including making our own pastry and bread in primary school / middle schools but how to iron (yes we were taught how to iron a mans shirt!) hand wash woollens and how to change a plug all in home economics as it was then called.  Some of those skills if not the recipes have remained with me including how to read and understand a recipe 

We were also let loose with tools for wood work, metal work as well as scissors in needle work  I made a dressing table stool in wood work when i was 10 or 11 which combined sewing skills to make the cover it lasted nearly 40 years and was only thrown out after we lost my mum as it was gifted to her.  We were expected to do all the sawing of the wood including cutting a round piece of wood for the seat (supervised of course) 

Unfortunately today i would probably cut myself! and frequently bear the scars of knocking my arm on the oven shelf above when taking stuff out of the oven 

Bluegreen143

Aw thanks all 🙂

It’s already week two of the school holidays here in Scotland - last week we were away (in a lodge by a beautiful sea loch - holidays are where I remember we are so fortunate to live in such a beautiful country!). But this week I’m home with the two kids as DH and I have managed to use annual leave and (unpaid) parental leave to cover the whole holidays between us. 

I’ve so enjoyed this morning. First the kids helped me mix no-knead bread. DS and I tidied in the garden, he chopped a lot of weeds with scissors which was less useful 😂 but then got a basin and soapy water and scrubbed lots of the stuff in the garden down (table, chairs, outside of the BBQ etc). DD chose to sit at the kitchen table and make a lovely picture “for Monkey” (her brother) which was fine, she’s very self-sufficient. 

Then both kids helped me make lunch (we were having YS cooked chicken legs reheated with salads and bread, I had sweet chilli sauce and kids had ketchup 😂). They both span the lettuce for me and both spent ages cutting up cucumber - I have nylon kitchen knives for them both though DS could maybe start to learn to use real knives soon. But they work really well for most veg and cheese etc. DS also buttered all the bread. They then helped me set the table and clear it off at the end.

During term time and when I’m working, life is more of a rush so it’s hard to always take the time to teach them things, though I am fortunate I only work within school
hours as I’m part time. But I can understand many of my friends who work longer hours just finding it all too much hassle. It’s a shame though, if kids don’t get the chance to learn these skills. 

Looking forward to using these holidays to do a lot more cooking with them 🙂 even on the weeks I’m working, it will be such a time saver not having the school run and having DH off to keep on top of the housework so I think it’ll still feel like a holiday to me!