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AIBU?

To be furious at this article?

131 replies

CatThiefKeith · 20/02/2017 18:43

Article linked to our local paper listing 50 things that lazy mums are failing to teach their children.

Presumably their fathers can't teach them anything because their penises get in the way! AngryAngry

https://www.mykentfamily.co.uk/primary/the-top-50-forgotten-skills-120839/

OP posts:
sotiredbutworthit · 20/02/2017 18:46

WTF! I'm too busy working and earning to teach my kids how to darn bloody socks!!! What I am teaching them is a good work ethic. Their dad can teach them how to make proper gravy!

abbsisspartacus · 20/02/2017 18:48

My dad taught me half the stuff on this list my mom taught me how to kill spiders from a distance and how to get my dad to clean up sick

Calvinlookingforhobbs · 20/02/2017 18:50

Why are you taking this so personally? This article is based on the facts, not opinions that what have been viewed as traditionally female skills are dying out. Surely this is a good thing, feminists? We can't have it both ways.

AQuietMind · 20/02/2017 18:51

That article is horrendous, do they have a fb page?

Catzpyjamas · 20/02/2017 18:54

Totally sexist article but also a bit out of date, I think. Who darns socks?
I couldn't do about 10% of that list anyway

iklboo · 20/02/2017 18:55

Since when did people re-heel their own shoes? That's what a cobbler was for.

Very few people have brass & silverware, let alone the time to do it.

How to landscape a fecking garden?!

anxious2017 · 20/02/2017 18:55

Wow, this has incensed me. When was it written? The 40s?! Firstly it's the "mothers, mums, mothers, mums" all the way through. Do dads not teach their children anything then? Secondly, who the fuck darns socks or reheels shoes?! Like, seriously? Socks are £3.00 for 476325 pairs in Primark, get a grip.

CatThiefKeith · 20/02/2017 18:56

Calvin why is it a woman's job to teach her children any of the things on that list?

And actually, there are many things on that list that traditionally were very much 'men's work'. Including decorating, washing the car and landscape gardening!

OP posts:
ArchNotImpudent · 20/02/2017 18:57

Re-heeling shoes? Does anyone get taught this skill by their parents (excluding those whose parents are cobblers Grin)

Catzpyjamas · 20/02/2017 18:57

@Calvinlookingforhobbs, I think CTK was annoyed by the list heading in the article:
TOP 50 SKILLS MUMS AREN’T PASSING DOWN TO THEIR KIDS

DorcasthePuffin · 20/02/2017 18:58

Fashion tips? Hmm

OwlinaTree · 20/02/2017 18:59

Wow yet more failings laid at a woman's door. Who needs to know how to re heel shoes? And surely I can look up how to make a trifle/cake/biscuits I don't need to be shown?

iklboo · 20/02/2017 18:59

How to landscape a garden, how to compost etc. Not a great call for that in a mid-Victorian terrace in the arse end of Salford. Or a 17th floor flat in the middle of London I should imagine.

CatThiefKeith · 20/02/2017 19:00

It's on http://www.kentonline.co.uk/ towards the bottom of the page. Angry

OP posts:
Thegiantofillinois · 20/02/2017 19:03

Haven't read it, but will any of the skills come in post apocalypse? Won't help me, cos I'll lose my glasses and be eaten by zombies/fall down a hole/ be forced to work in a mine, but might be useful to what vital life skills I'm denying my kids.

BrieAndChilli · 20/02/2017 19:03

Well I've just gone through the list with my 8 year old and she knows 26 of them!!!! A lot of them are no longer done - shoes are thrown away rather than reheeled, people don't really have silver that need polishing, wtc

ArriettyClock1 · 20/02/2017 19:04

That article is ludicrous and annoying.

I am very pleased to say I am a mum who wouldn't dream of doing half the things on that list. Who the fuck darns? Or recycles soaps? Or re-heels shoes?

Our children know how to cook, bake, garden, do the washing and iron (badly) but it's their dad that taught them, not me.

Rockpebblestone · 20/02/2017 19:04

My own mother did not teach me half of those things. I'm not sure at what point in time women did all these things. Certainly middle class ladies before the Second World War would not have had these skills. They were only just getting used to not having servants! Whereas if you were a frontier woman you might have spent more time trapping and skinning dead things to eat.

So I don't feel bad. Society changes with the times.

DorcasthePuffin · 20/02/2017 19:06

So a hefty proportion of that list is redundant because these just aren't essential skills anymore. It is no longer cost effective to darn socks, surely? These days, sewing and knitting are craft activities, not essential skills for running a frugal household.

I think my list would be more like:

  1. Spider disposal
  2. Sewing on a button
  3. Hemming
  4. Making tea and toast (primary), simple meals (secondary)
  5. Changing a light bulb
  6. Resetting the fuse box
  7. Making your way around by public transport
  8. Running a load of washing
  9. Washing up efficiently

10. Dusting, hoovering, mopping the floor
11. Ringing for emergency assistance
12. Washing, detangling own hair
13. Buying something from a shop.
14. Recycling.

PMSL at 'polishing silverware' - I don't think there's been any silverware in my family for at least three generations.

As for teaching your child how to wear make-up...
CatThiefKeith · 20/02/2017 19:10

But why is it all down to mums to teach these things? Don't dad's have a responsibility to pass on their knowledge too?

OP posts:
pluck · 20/02/2017 19:11

My mother was born in 1946, and massively resented her MiL's obssession with darning. I learned the realistic skills on that list myself.

whatlifestylechoice · 20/02/2017 19:11

How to recycle soaps? Ooh, I know this one -when the liquid soap runs out, you chuck the dispenser in the 'plastics' recycling box. Ta dah! I will be sure to pass this important knowledge on to my child, as soon as I've finished darning my socks.

Pffft! Stupid bloody article. Did they just ask an old man in the pub to write it?

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Spudlet · 20/02/2017 19:13

What a load of old tosh. Survey sponsored by Addis, you notice.... shan't be buying any more lunch boxes from them.

I don't think anyone under the age of 80 does half of these things anyway!

RebelRogue · 20/02/2017 19:14

I don't know how to do,or won't do 90% of that list. I much prefer Puffin's list as that i can do,and dd is on her way of learning them too.

SparkleTwinkleGoldGlitter · 20/02/2017 19:14

Re heeling shoes Shock I go to a shop like

Polishing silver/brass Shock who owns brass or silver these days

Washing up, well it isn't difficult is it surely kids can learn how to do it by seeing Mum/dad do it for years Confused

How to spring clean a house, umm I've never spring cleaned and I'm 40 I do only what needs doing and I now have a cleaner

How to Line a bake tin 😂

Recycle soap wtf? I'm 40 and I know nothing about recycle soap

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