What skills did your parents feel were important to pass on?

[wonderstuff]

Just occurred to me that I left home unable to iron, cook or budget, but able to mix a mean gin and tonic!

What essential skills did your parents pass on to you?

(sits sipping gin in dishevelled poverty)

That's a bit disappointing I thought you had to shoot it in the eye or something.

That's only if it steals your leg at night.

Never, ever to be a sheep. That independent thought is crucial.
Work for yourself and no one else
Work hard to get a job you love
Surround yourself with people that appreciate you, lose those that don't
Money in many ways is the root of all evil

Mother taught me how to change a plug - "In case you marry a man like your Father"- which of course I did, and thought of this only last week.

I was taught how to wire a plug as well, and how to repair a fuse. I'm talking about those big old fashioned fuses that you don't see these days. Back then electrical items came without a plug so everyone had to know how to wire a plug.

How to read and enjoy reading, use a sewing machine and follow a recipe/pattern, how to read a map, table manners;
How to hang wallpaper, paint and general DIY, wire a plug, mend a puncture;
how to follow the manual/learn for myself.
That I MUST VOTE!

That growing your own, sewing your own, making your own is normal (had to un-learn that later)!
That there's no reason I can't be an engineer, or go to a good uni.

That "Getting down's easy - just fall" (after climbing a tree and getting stuck).

Not much about being good in social situations or hosting though.

I hope to teach my daughters similar things, with better social skills! Essentially how to think and learn for themselves, and not be afraid of doing something for the first time.

Mum taught me to debate, to think for myself, political awareness, to have integrity, to fight for the underdog.

Dad taught me how to have fun, be silly, charm people, to think before I speak in interviews, that I should never expect a man to be as emotionally literate as a woman, to treat everyone with the same respect, no matter what their status, to hate the tories with a passion.

How to roll a joint.
How to put a suspender belt on.
How to make a Snakebite

A respectful hate, mad?

I was also taught how to sew a button on, how to darn socks and how to gut a fish.

Change a plug.
Mend a fuse.
Clean a fishtank.

Lots of household crap like cooking, ironing etc.

Mainly though, how to think and solve problems.

Cook dinner for a family of six
Clean a house
Look after children of a variety of ages
Drive
Swim
Be a second mother (I was the eldest of four)

In a positive sense: to live within my means, even if it means going without, and to save for something rather than get a loan.

To respect other people's property, and always return an item in the same condition it was loaned in.

To not be wasteful, so that means turn off lights when you leave the room and eat all your greens!

To eat what is set before me by a host, even if I don't like it. (Allergies excepted).

How to garden, knit, sew a button, iron a t-shirt and shirt without creases, be as polite as possible to everyone you meet, and the importance of support and hand-written, personal, letters.

In a negative sense, to repress or hide feelings, and to be passive aggressive or walked on, all over.

Hullabaloo - did we have the same parents? I failed to put all yours on my list but yes, all those ring true with me too.

How to be a very good judge of character

My parents were alcoholics so I had to learn early how to cook, get school uniform ready, etc. I could cook a decent meal by about 11. I think it was my big brother who taught me how to do a roast dinner. I could paint a room, etc, by the time I left home at 16.

My mum did teach me how to lay a coal fire, though, and how to be a loving (if feckless and unsafe) mum. I've tried to learn from the 'loving' bit and less from the 'feckless and unsafe' bit. I learned from my dad how to stand up to bullies - though it was never a lesson he intended to teach.

Yep, a respectful hate yes

How to look after myself financially, personal hygiene, odd jobs on the house and garden, work as a member of a team, work individually.
How to talk to people from all walks of life, good manners and social skills, how to negotiate, think of others, support others, sympathise and empathise.
Playing a musical instrument, survival of the fittest and loads more I can't think of.
I was thoroughly prepared to go out into the world at 18, made some school girl errors in my time though.

My (single) mom taught me:

how to do laundry at 10
how to load a dishwasher at 8
how to ride a bike at 6
how to cook and bake(although that lesson never took)
how to look under the hood of a car and check the fluids
how to pump tires
how to drive and then to drive a stick
how to be goofy
that you have to work for a living

Also:
that men aren't to be trusted and generally just find women annoying.
that money grows on trees so don't worry about budgeting .

I can wallpaper paint and yesterday i built 3 sets of Ikea flat pack draws, i can do most DIY tasks, lay carpet, put roller blinds up. All stuff i will pass onto DDs, DD 7 helped me build them and the other DD i showed her how to wallpaper while i was doing it. They know how to make basic meals, Spag Bol, Chilli, mince and dumplings, meat pies, enough to get through if they ever have to

All stuff i learnt from my Dps