Why Plan Family Pursuits

Who says we don't desperately need family pursuits, projects, pastimes, and arts and crafts? Here are some things to make you think again.

A research doctor asked me to prepare equipment for him requiring needlework because "I always had servants to do that for me, so I don't know how to thread a needle."

Obesity is increasing at epidemic rates.

Kids Arts and Crafts

Man is better than the other animals because of his brain. If we don't use our brains we lose our superiority. Healthy kids love a constant round of activities because it stimulates that human brain. Each new pursuit will build new skills and ways of thinking.

If you spend all your time in front of the TV the kids will have to find projects of their own. Many kids now spend hours playing computer games each day. What manual skills are they building? How to push some buttons!

Systematic Kids Arts and Crafts

Have ongoing activities including planning for holidays, so that the family can experience budgeting, arts and crafts, gardening, cooking, keeping and butchering animals or just fishing and cleaning the fish. Don't let your family pursuits be so few and uneducational that your children could end up dieing within sight of food and water because they don't know how to unzip a banana, or clarify a mud puddle.

You may be the world's best treacle-bender, but what if employers no longer want skilled treacle-benders? If you don't know how to do anything else what are you going to do?

Our research was brought to a standstill by a frozen water-pipe. The rules said that the gardener had to dig up the pipe then the plumber had to fix the pipe. But the gardener was on holiday. So the boss and I dug a trench to uncover the pipe, replaced the broken section, and covered everything up again, even shovelling snow back on top for extra insulation. Neither of the trade unions ever knew that we had avoided a two-week delay by doing their work ourselves.

How much would your plumber charge as a call-out fee before he even looked at your leaking tap? It would only take him a few minutes to replace the tap-washer but he would charge by the hour or part of an hour so you would have to pay him for one hour plus the call-out fee. Any child who has learned to use a spanner (and is strong enough) can replace a tap washer. Teach them the importance of turning off the water at the mains. If you don't know where that tap is ask your neighbours or the water supplier.

Products of the kids construction will have to be proudly displayed. They may not have craftsman finish and flair, but each project represents another ability that might be needed one day. It doesn't matter if pottery is distorted if it carries water to avoid dieing of thirst.

And yes(!) boys need to learn to cook and sew. Their army mates will stop laughing when the have to rely on their cooking. If they allowed a friend to bleed to death out in the bush because they couldn't thread a needle to sew them up imagine how they would feel.

A young lady might just have to stand and look helpless to get the boys clustering round to fix her car, do the gardening, clean the gutters, kill the hens, fix the door lock etc. but if she doesn't know how to do it herself, will she have as many helpers when she is 50 years old?

Conclusion

Your family needs many family pursuits to keep them healthy in mind and body and avoid them being helpless one day when it matters.