Sunday, March 14, 2010

My 11yo does our shopping!

Inspired by a BBC show, Boys and Girls Alone, I allowed my 11.5yo son to do up a menu plan for this week and to do the grocery shopping through an online service while sticking to a budget. He did very well, juggling how many treats and what treats to get for his younger brother's upcoming birthday as well as meeting our family's needs such as TP and tissues in this season of colds and snuffly noses.

I have 4 boys and the long term plan is that by the time they leave home they will be fully confident in cooking at least 5 different types of main meals, 3 desserts, baking of biscuits and cakes and be able to do all that on a budget. I do not want to send my kids off to University (which is likely to be in another town) without these essential skills.

We do our children a great disservice by doing things for them. With our training from a young age they can go through the teenage years and into adulthood with confidence in their ability to look after themselves, and to share in the load of making a home with flat mates and in the future with a wife, and hopefully children.

I do not want them coming home to get their washing done. I do not want to be cooking all day long to feed hungry teenage boys. They are adults in the making and adults should be able to be independant, but that depends a lot on the training I do now.

Best wishes
Jen in Oz

1 comment:

  1. Go Jen! i'm with you all the way! Why do for the children what they can be capable of doing for themselves... it just seems to enable them to remain dependent instead of allowing and guiding them toward maturity.

    Naturally we need to be careful that we don't over load the little ones... but if our hearts are turned toward them this is unlikely.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog the other day!

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