So saying all that, I have a joke, of sorts, and I hope I don't mess it up. Did you hear about the Irishman killed in his souvenir shop? It was a nick-nack paddy whack.
If I were to follow on the theme of yesterday's post I would tell you my inability to crack jokes is just a part of my personality and it is a trait or talent or skill that I just don't possess. And that's okay. Other guys can be the joker and I'll laugh at the jokes that don't offend my particular brand of humor.
But since this is not about yesterday's post, and I don't tell jokes particularly well, this post is about something else altogether. Something that riddles me.
I'm wondering what we have failed to teach our children. So many kids spend time in day care, and that is a very badly needed service, but I wonder what actually gets taught at home by parents. Kids spend some time in front of the television, emulating their parents, but more and more they are disconnected from family and texting on phones or playing video games.
I wonder this because I know in some areas I did exceptionally well, and in others I'm just not so sure. For instance, I taught all my kids how to do their laundry. When my eldest went to the Air Force Academy, he was the only cadet in his squadron that knew how to do laundry. Surely there was some sort of disconnect somewhere.
It's not a matter of stay at home moms versus working moms either. I worked off and on while my kids were growing. They learned to do laundry, and wash dishes. They did not, however, learn to change a tire or mop a floor. They certainly got the very, very basics of cooking from me and not much more. They could honestly say they knew how to scramble an egg and boil water.
So I'm wondering, puzzled by what I accomplished with teaching them "adulting" skills and what they had to learn through the awful school of hard knocks.
This question sprang to mind as I have been studying my business plan and organizing it on paper. What needs will this next generation try to find a solution for? What can my generation impart to them? What problems are they going to encounter?
My mother certainly didn't teach me anything about finances - other than the fact that she hated owing people money. Her bills were never late, but I never saw a budget and never knew just how she made those checks my dad earned get us through from paycheck to paycheck.
What did not seeing and participating cost me? Probably a lot. My husband and I did have to do yard work growing up. We each have distinctive memories of less than fun projects we had to work on. We passed that distaste on to the kids - all of them are not fans of yard work.
I didn't learn to budget, clean the kitchen properly, even scrub the toilet correctly from home experiences. Those things I learned as a young adult living in my first apartment.
We can't assume that young people have been taught much of anything these days. We know a lot of self-absorbed jerks who wouldn't dream of raking a yard or vacuuming the carpet. Just as we know kids that wouldn't blink to help someone clear the snow and ice off a neighbor's windshield. Every once in a while there is a kid that comes around to shovel the driveway. Those events still happen (and when it does I hire that enterprising young person), but they are much fewer than in days past.
What are we teaching our kids about everyday life? The things they know to have a good life no matter what they choose as their vocation? Hopefully, we haven't left too much for chance.