Involving children in the work of the house, teaching them new skills, and helping them to learn about healthy meal preparation from an early age will benefit the family and even more importantly the child in the long run.

This picture of Annika cooking eggs was taken last summer. I had been out milking and was feeling really behind because the milk cows had escaped during the storm in the night and chores had taken a long time. I was surprised to find Annika (age 7) with breakfast almost ready when I walked in the door with milk buckets in hand. That was a huge blessing and relief that morning.

From the time our kids are born they are often with me as I work. Babies are wrapped up and carried and little ones love to run and pull the step stool up to the counter. It can be a little overwhelming at times, and it’s always more work to have them help, but I constantly remind myself of the benefits that everyone will reap by this sacrifice. I can also look back with such fond memories of everyone working together to accomplish something great.

Two years ago, when I went into labor on the way home from church, my family asked if we should cancel our lunch plans. We had invited another family over from church for lunch and fellowship. I was planning a homebirth anyways, so I decided to go forward with it. I’m so glad we did. I was instructed to lay down for an hour to see if the contractions progressed or stopped, and while I did that my kids got busy right away getting everything ready. By the time the guests arrived I could hear my children making everyone feel at home and heard them announce that the food was ready. I remember thinking how thankful I was to know that they could do all of this without me. I was able to rest, the contractions stopped until the next day, and we had an enjoyable afternoon with our guests. This is a great reminder to me of the blessings that come with sacrificing and doing hard things.   

I believe that teaching kids these skills will not only benefit the family, but will also benefit our children in the future. Since our kids know how to grow and prepare food from scratch, have obtained skills in a lot of areas (often with a lot of struggles at first, and sometimes with a financial loss to us), I believe that they will have a better start in knowing how to invest in their health and hopefully be less stressed in their finances, because hopefully they won’t feel as helpless as many people feel in our modern world, since everything is so specialized. If you are feeling overwhelmed or stressed during these difficult times, I want to encourage you that it’s not too late to learn some skill that can benefit you and your family, and it’s never too late to start passing on your skills to your children or grandchildren. You won’t regret it!

Do you have a skill that you have passed onto your children? We love to hear from you!