Monday, June 7, 2010

What Every Mother Should Teach Her Son(s)

Sure I'm a feminist. I'm not denying this. Do I abide the idea that men and women should be treated exactly the same or do the same things, heaven's no. That's just craziness in my book and against God's plan. I'm more along the lines of I don't want you or anyone else telling me what I can and can't do. I'm smart enough to figure it out on my own. So just give me a chance. With that being said there are certain things that I wanted my daughters to know how to do. Some although inherently considered man skills I could teach her, the others I had to call for reinforcements. Yeah that would be Travis. I planted the seed of things I think that Bella should know and every girl for that matter. The list is as follows: Every girl should...

  • be able to provide her own income sufficient to live on if needed.
  • know how to shoot a gun, catch a fish, bait a hook, and pull out that hook.
  • know how to change a tire, change the oil, and know what her functioning car sounds like, so she can hear when it starts sounding funny.
  • be able to negotiate with a man especially, a car salesperson, financial consultant, and her mechanic.
  • be able to live within her means and live on a budget. Although this applies to every person and lest you be confused the two things mentioned are different. One keeps you from going into debt, the other makes you rich. But I'll save the rest of that for another day.
  • be able to lift her own luggage.
  • be able to start a fire and set up a tent.
  • know the basic rules of all sports.
Along those same lines I have realized that I am responsible for teaching my sons these inverse goals that are stereotypically female so that he is self sufficient and useful within a family setting in more than a one dimensional way. And I've gone round and round wondering what would be most useful for my son to know to be helpful to his wife someday. So far I've come up with these:
Every boy should be able to...
  • do laundry including the proper care of female items including but not limited to line dried items, delicates, and stain removal.
  • cook at least ten meals or translate a recipe to the finished product.
  • set a proper dinner table including several sets of flatware for salads, soup, and dessert.
  • clean properly vacuum, mop, dust, bathrooms, you know get out the toothbrush and clean the water deposits off the chrome kind of cleaning
  • type without looking and at a reasonable pace
  • go grocery shopping and bring home foods that can create a meal
  • make and keep own appointments including doctor, dentist, and eye care

And that's all the further I've gotten. But I'm sure I'm missing crucial items. So friends, family, countrymen weigh in and help me raise my boys to be helpful men, tell me what I am missing. Thanks!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That sounds great! If I ever have son, I am going to teach him those things. Now only if I could teach my girls to get their fingers dirty!

Solviej said...

My life, I can't do more than half the things on either of you lists.

Sommer said...

What good lists! I love it! It reminds me of our lesson in RS on Sunday about teaching our children to be self reliant and how our job is to produce children who don't need us anymore, also tomorrow we are having a RS activity on learning how to change tires, check fluids, and jump start a car.... good things to know, I can tell you I don't know how to do them. I would add to the list for Bella on how to mow a lawn and do the trimming. That's something Ben had to teach me. Great lists though! I'll have to use these.

Laura Lynn said...

Good lists.
-Basic sewing stitch (for both boys and girls) and gardening.

Reese made a bear and sewed it up.

I told him chicks would dig that.

He also started his own watermelon seed and planted it all by himself while I was out one day.

-How to properly answer a phone and take messages.

I also think it's important to teach to be kind to animals.

Just a couple on my list...

Lindsay said...

I hope to teach Lily that if you act stupid to attract boys, you'll attract stupid boys.

Leo, I hope to teach how to be courteous and responsible. (You need to call home once in a while, young man.)

And both kids need to know how to give a firm handshake and look people in the eye.

These among many, many other things, of course!