Apprentice buggers up making the tea

Dave, don't you realise that a kitchen is very dangerous place with sharp things, heavy things, hot things, cold things and absoloutely plastered in all manner of lethal germs. No parent that cares about their child would allow them into such a place. B-)

Words from one of the Mums from "Life on Sheep Mountain"(*) when having to make bread. "I haven't done anything like this since school" OWTTE. This is a mum with kids around 10 years old. With take aways, cook chill, frozen etc a great many people don't cook meals from ingredients. Kids from such families will never have seen anything being cooked, even something like beans on toast or bacon sarnie.

Dragging kids (teenagers) out of their bedroom where they are glued to video skype calls, MSN, text, facebook, x-station etc is next to impossible. Getting them to do "parents work" no chance, not unless the parents have actively encouraged (insisted...) on such activity from an early age.

Up shot is the kids leave home with not a clue about how to actually look after themselves . Then there is the "I've not been formaly trained" (or shown) so I *can't* do it full stop attitude rather than, "Hum, how do I..."

(*) Kids TV prog about a couple of families going back to be welsh hill farmers in the 1890's ish.

Heh heh. And of course toddlers must wear a helmet when riding their first bike round a grass field. But are allowed to roam on the pavement of a busy road while mum's on the phone...

Very little tea I am afraid (the job needs to be completed by the end of next week so no slacking)

I was told to arrive at 7 and start fitting the strip lights. First of all I had 220 of the buggers to unload from the delivery van and place into the class rooms.

This just begs the question about why these children have their own TV, laptop, mobile, etc, things they don't actually *need*, and which, judging from the first few words you posted that I've quoted above, are contributing to family breakup.

It's poor parenting if children are not taught life's basics before they leave home - including ironing, cleaning, and some cooking.

You could have been stoned all day...

The official reason given was "to test the staff room ring circuit":-)

My Dad was unable to operate the washing machine when my Mum went into hospital last year. In 46 years of marriage he has never had to use it or the iron.

If it was the other way around my Mum could not organise the house finances, she has never had to.

The hospital admission was a big wake up call for them.

Because they are on a six weeks holiday is my guess as to why they were not eaten.

actually

Agreed, though "poor" is not strong enough. And it's not just personal stuff like feeding and cleaning but a whole gambit of financial/work "guidelines" as well. Though the latter wasn't taught to me by anybody, parents or school. I think schools do a bit more these days in "Citizenship" at 1hr/week. I've not done too bad and muddled through with back accounts and investments but the one thing I really wish someone had taken me aside an told me about is pension provision. I didn't join or make any other pension provision until I was 21, I started work at 18 so have missed 3 contributions to a final salary scheme that I was in for 14 years, I reckon that will cost me about =A32000/year on the pension (when I get it) but would have only cost a few hundred quid at the time...

So youngsters (anybody below 40) make sure your are making decent pension provision now. The state pension age is going up, what the value (as in what it will buy) of the state pension will be in the best part of 30 years is anybodies guess, that's assuming it still exists...

There is disgusting and there is less obvious. One of the less obvious is to drill a hole with a small drill around .5 mm. Fill hole with chocolate. When a hot drink is put in it the chocolate melts and the mug leaks just enough to leave annoying marks any where it is put down.

G.Harman

I can perhaps see that. But kids tend to watch their mum doing things - and making a cup of tea is rather more basic than knowing how to work a washing machine.

My mum did all of that too. Only thing my father did was the gardening and earn the money.

Indeed. Like any good partnership each will have their skills.

I don't count ironing as a basic life skill. Apparently we do have an iron in this house, last used for removing wax from a carpet some years ago.

Anything here that needs ironing goes straight down the charity shop. Well, most things - after looking in the mirror. So make that clothes.

Last thing I used an iron for was some experiments with PCB acid resist transfers. Not too successful.

They may be on 'holiday', but it doesn't mean they'll be absent from the building for all that time.

BTW, 'teachers' holidays' should be more accurately described as 'a period of time without children to teach'. The work goes on through much of the 'holiday' in much the same way that the school day doesn't begin at 9 and end at 3.

Yes, ex-teacher.

Oh, and you should replace the items you stole.

I think that varies greatly with subject, experience and existing preparation. I have numerous teachers in the family and some are often marking or preparing at home, others have never been seen to work outside basic school hours at all!

SteveW

This is a primary school.

One staff room wall is dedicated to the NUT.

The rest of the walls are full of posters giving instructions (rules) for everything from drinking tea to closing windows.

I had some very nice cakes yesterday baked by our 8 y/o and 3 y/o (our 5 y/o wasn't allowed to join in 'cos he'd been naughty). Tomorrow I've got DIY to do, probably hindered by the 8 y/o.

SteveW

Although evidently not for how to brew it!