New Website!

I just found out one of my friends, has this fun website. She has lots of fun tips about cake decorating, organizing, gluten free, thrifting, food storage, etc. I will put it in the Mom area on the right side of the links. Hope you enjoy.

http://www.ldsmomtomany.blogspot.com/

Teaching Life Skills

I am amazed at how many parents give their children handicaps, by not teaching them to take responsibility for themselves. As we grow, we need to learn how to do things for the future. I think we do good with the oldest, but then slack off on the other children. So here are a few experiences that have changed my life, for the better.

One of my biggest issues is when young teenagers are not given opportunities to work outside of the home. I think it is really important to learn to hold a job and to learn to work with bosses. I think if you expect them to just get a job out of college with no work experience, you are crazy. Working creates really good skills and responsibility. I also feel if your child can't hold onto a job for more that a year at a time (except if he is only going to do it for the Summer), then something must be wrong (not with the employer, but your child). I feel that teaching them at an earlier age and having expectations will help with that.

I have a husband that could make bread when we got married. He is a really good cleaner, takes direction well, irons, and knows how to do lots of things that help me in my home. Yet his little brother, can barely feed himself in his adulthood. My husband is a GREAT husband, and I know it is because he learned how to take care of a family and house. He is my partner through and through. The other day I heard someone say that their husband gets mad when the living room is dirty. I thought of my husband, and the fact that he wouldn't say a word, he would just roll up his sleeves and help clean it. I think sometimes we get in the mindset that we only need to teach our daughters certain things. Enough of this! Lets teach our boys, so they can become great men, husbands, and fathers.

My husband was never taught at home about cars. He has told me many times, that he almost ruined his first car, because his dad never taught him to change the oil (or take it to someone who could). In contrast I saw my brother-in-law changing oil in his driveway. I asked him who taught him how to change oil (and save mega money through the years) he couldn't remember. He said he has been doing it his whole life.

I here people say all the time, that their teenager has no idea how to make food and would starve without them. WHAT? What happens when they go to college, or when they have a family. I am teaching my daughter to cook right now. I take the time to teach her principles of why I did what I did, and how to fix a mistake. Yes she has got burned, yes she has made some terrible things, but more and more she is getting better and makes some really nice things.

My mom once ruined a pair of my Levis. I sat and yelled at her and my dad heard. I was old enough to do my own laundry (I think I was 14), and so he said, "Mom will buy you a new pair, but then you get to do your own laundry from now on". It was the best thing for me. I now with a family of 7 spend lots of my time doing laundry, I am glad I learned how early.

Even with my 4 year old, I am teaching him how to take care of himself. Not just the usual: get dressed, brush teeth, but things like: Cleaning his room, Helping with the laundry, making his bed, Washing hand prints off the wall, and he has now mastered the art of wiping off all the counters in the kitchen and putting all the dishes in the sink. Is he perfect at these things? No, but each day he gets better and better.

So here is a list of things that we can work on now, that will make the difference in the long run:
1. Fixing a simple meal (p&b Sand.) then eating it, the cleaning up your mess
2. Cooking Dinners or Desserts
3. Taking the dry clothes out of the dryer and folding them. (and if they are still wet-what do you do?
4. Saving Money for college or something special
5. Cleaning up messes
6. If you get something messy on your clothes, how to put pre-wash on it and put it in the laundry
7. How to iron a shirt
8. How to sew on a button
9. How to make simple repairs
10. What to do in an emergency with a car (change a tire, if we are on the side of the road, changing the oil, etc)
11. Sorting Laundry into colors, and why we do that
12. Moving the wet laundry to the dryer.
13. Starting a new batch of laundry.
14. organization
15. Manners
16. The rules of Thank You notes
17. Teaching to pick up the slack if someone needs it
18. How to change sheets (and how often)
19. How to get a stain out of the carpet.
20. How to budget
21. How to balance a checkbook and handle credit cards
22. How to mow the lawn (girls need to do outside work too)
23. How to shop for a good deal
24. How to shop with coupons
25. How to do a pony tail (boys can learn to braid too)

Now I stopped at 25, but I could go on and on. There are so many skills that teenagers and young adults today are just not learning. Lots that I see involve the home: cleaning, cooking, fixing things, etc. It is my goal to have my children learn the above list (and more) sometime while they are in my care. And then when they have a life of their own (or heaven forbid- I get sick or die and really need their help), that they will know what to do. Alot of these can be taught in a fun way, that they would have no clue what you were doing. And then years later when they need the information, BAM! they remember and can do it.

So that is my thought for today. Don't forget to teach your child Life Skills! And if I missed some you want to add, just add them into the comment section. Also as a side note if you have special situations in your home, teach your kids about those and how to care for them. Like I have two black girls that I have adopted. Their hair is impossible to do. So I am teaching my 3 girls how to do their hair. I hope as teenagers, I will only assist as needed and they will learn how to do their hair. You might have a sick child, a pet, or some issue that needs to be addressed as well. Prepare them.

Halloween Tip!

This is my family three years ago. The kids costumes were bought and then I made my husbands and mine. Most of the time we do themes. This year I wanted to do Winni the Pooh, but the girls decided they wanted to use costumes from years past. We have done: Peter Pan, Fairytale, Little Mermaid, The Office, Traditional Halloween, and of course the Wizard of Oz.

So......Here is my tip!

If you are going to make your kids Halloween Costume you might want to buy the fabric. I was in the fabric store yesterday and so many people were buying stuff to make Halloween costumes. In the past I have always bought early for two reasons:

1. Long Lines the closer you get to October

2. Low Stock on certain colors and materials

I bought this year, but the same applies if you are buying. Buy early so you have a good selection for your kiddos!