Our Journey Together: Things to teach your children

Growing up your taught many things....to be polite, kind and courteous, use your manors, get dressed, tie shoes, clean up after yourself, and as you get older you learn to cook and drive and dance among many other things.

Growing up in our family meant a lot more. I had a mom who was raised around boys she has two brothers and a self sufficient father. He was NOT going to pay someone for repairs because he knew how to fix it. There was no such thing as "your a girl you cant do that." She learned how to change oil, worked in the fields, helped her dad fix plumbing, roofing and repairing walls, split wood and did her fair share of fishing and hunting.

I loved being around papa, he taught me so much. He never was one to tolerate a whiny little girl. You had to be a big girl and use a big girl voice and so long as you were a big girl he would tote you around everywhere and teach you everything he knew. I spent hours just sitting and watching as my mom did when she was little. Every once in a while he needed an extra set of hands and you had the opportunity to help, and you felt so special helping. Papa was never one to hug or tell you he loves you, he offered a silent love, but I knew he loved me because he never left me behind. I always got to go and help.

My mom and dad are self sufficient people, that is how they were both raised. My parents know a little bit about everything and passed that onto us. I live in North Carolina, USA and my family is in Prince Edward Island, Canada. We are 26 hours apart providing you drive straight through. Thankfully for today's technology we have Skype. I tote my cell phone or laptop around with what I might need help with and my mom and dad walk me through the steps......YES, I'm still learning! When my mom http://besidethetrail.ca/ needs her girly time she will read stories or have tea parties with her grand-girls on Skype.

I want our children raised the way I was. I want them to be self sufficient, I want them to save money and differentiate between a need and a want, I want our children to be able to fix what they can so they don't have to pay someone else to fix it and most importantly I want them to be able to walk away from that washing machine repair and say "I did it" or be able to put a new blade on the chainsaw and say "I did it" or build a chicken coop and being able to say "I helped make this" or changing a door knob and being able to say "I did this all by my self, every time you turn this knob you'll remember what you taught me Miss, Jenn!"

The way I learned is when something broke I tagged along and took lessons. Convenient right????? Take your kids with you, teach your kids, show them there is more to life then throwing around money or sitting in front of a TV, teach them everything you know so you can pass on your skills to your children and your future generations. When they teach their kids they will be able to tell stories about how you helping them learn how to fix something. Most importantly, they will never forget the first nail they hammered, or the time you taught them how to use power tools, or the small little things like unclogging the bathroom sink or changing a doorknob. I guarantee you the first flat tire they have they will be so proud they saved time and changed it them self instead of having to wait on road side assistance and they learnt it all from you.