Raising Competent Kids in an Incompetent WorldDaisy Luther My oldest daughter recently camehome for summer vacation and we discussed her first year of college. She told me that her younger sister, age 13, was much more mature and competent than many of the kids in her student apartment building. I had to show a bunch of them how to do laundry and they didnt even know how to make a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, she said. Apparently they were in awe of her ability to cook actual food that did not originate in a pouch or box, her skills at changing a tire, her knack for making coffee using a French press instead of a coffee maker, and her ease at operating a washing machine and clothes dryer. She says that even though she thought I was being mean at the time I began making her do things for herself, shes now glad that she possesses those skills. Hers was also the apartment that had everything needed to solve everyday problems: basic tools, first aid supplies, OTCmedicine, and home remedies. This got me thinking about how life will be when disaster eventually strikes. If the country is populated by a bunch of people who cant even cook a box of macaroni and cheese when their stoves function at optimum efficiency, how on earth will they sustain themselves when they have to not only acquire their food, but must use off-grid methods to prepare it? How can someone who requires an instruction manual to operate a digital thermostat hope to keep warm when their home environment it controlled by wood they have collected and fires they have lit with it? Of course, the above is a particularly dire scenario. Lets look at some less dramatic, but more likely, situations. This isnt even about prepping, per se, but about life skills. In the current economy it might not even be as cut and dried as job loss the new generation may never find work at all. When you have little-to-no money, cost-cutting efforts in order to get by requires certain skills and adaptations to stay fed and clean. Your kids need to know how to: Power Outage Due to Natural Disaster Weve all seen the aftermath of hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, and superstorms. Your kids should be able to: Illness and Injury This can happen anywhere at any time. Keeping a cool head when someone is ill or injured is the absolute most important step towards a good outcome. My kids both took babysitting courses and First Aid courses to further their money-making abilities as young teens, but the skills learned their go much further than bandaging a toddlers scraped knee. Kids should: Automotive Safety An astonishing number of young adults dont know how to drive. Back when I was a kid, the most exciting thing in my teenage life was getting behind the wheel of a car, getting a learners permit when I was fourteen, and having that permit turn into a real drivers license on my 16th birthday. Now, many kids could care less if they ever learn how to drive. Instead, they rely on public transit or friends and family members who drive. Its one thing if you live in a major metropolitan area, but in places with lower populations, it seems that this is a vital skill. In order to transport yourself to work and school, or to help out in the event of an emergency, it seems to me that kids should know how to: And finally, what about day-to-day life skills? I was truly surprised when my daughter told me about the lack of life skills her friends have. I always thought maybe I was secretly lazy and that was the basis on my insistence that my girls be able to fend for themselves, but it honestly prepares them for life far better than if I was a hands-on mom that did absolutely everything for them. They need to realize that clothing does not get worn and then neatly reappear on a hanger in the closet, ready to be worn again. They need to understand that meals do not magically appear on the table, created by singing appliances ala Beauty and the Beast. Here are some of the life skills that kids should have gained before leaving the nest: The more they practice these things under your watchful eye, the more competent they will be when they set out on their own. We all want our kids to be successful and independent. Dont allow them to become crippled by a world that babies them in the name of convenience. Daisy Luther is a freelance writer and editor. Her website, The Organic Prepper, where this first appeared, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at daisy@theorganicprepper.ca 