Home Economics.

Jamie Oliver's TED wish for 2010 was that each child should be taught how to cook 7 dishes by the time he or she leaves school. He contends that this is part of the solution to bringing up a healthier generation, children who do not need to rely on highly processed, unhealthy food. Another part of the video shows that children don't do very well with identifying different types of vegetable.

It's made me very conscious about how I train my kids domestically. Not just with regards to food. But with helping with chores round the house. Worse for them is the fact that I actually have house help and that makes life cushy for them.

So, I let them muck about with the mops and brooms. They are at the stage where they like to imitate us so sweeping and mopping is a big thrill for them. I have said a stern word or two to my helper when she scolds them for disturbing her and wanting to 'help'.























I also make it a point to encourage them to actually pick up after themselves. Throwing away their own diaper in the morning. Bringing the plates and bowls back to the kitchen after their meals. Putting their shoes away and dumping their dirty clothes into laundry baskets. Hopefully by the time they outgrow the stage of being 'helpful' and thinking that housework is 'fun', these things would have become automatic.


















As a child, when I read Enid Blyton, in particular Famous Five, I thought Anne was insipid and couldn't understand why in the face of all that adventure, she wanted to keep the house clean. And when I got older, I read all these articles about how sexist and racist Enid Blyton was. While I did get annoyed with Anne for always fussing about chores, I think for some girls, such a nesting instinct is strong. And Jordan is one of them. She loves to help with Muffin, she loves to do household chores and we've taught her simple things like folding a face towel into 4. Here, she's imitating my helper in folding clothes and is trying to 'fold' Muffin's mittens.

She resists any instruction to put them together as a pair, which is my next project but she makes a big thing about the folding and even in her exaggerated actions, she puts a lot of care into it.



I was told by a mother that such things were unnecessary to teach because we had maids and the time allowing them to do these things and to learn these things would be better spent learning something academic like reading, wRiting and aRithmetic. I'm not really sure about that. I think these are more memory building than forcing the child to sit and learn how to write after being in school for the better part of the morning.

I know I don't remember what I did in kinder but I do remember what fun I had sweeping the drains outside, especially after the rains!

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