“Mom, Michael says that cooking is for girls,” My 9 year old son shared as he came in from playing with the neighborhood kids to cook dinner. 

“What do you think?” I asked, wanting him to to express his feelings on the subject, especially in light of the boy’s critical remark.

“I think he’s going to be very hungry when he grows up,” my son says. And after we laugh at the remark, he explained his thoughts – that there’s not always going to be a time when mom or a girl is going to be around to cook for him. And he’d like to eat. 

The whole situation was good for my son to figure out what he truly thought about boys cooking. It was the first time he had really encountered any opinions that boys shouldn’t learn to cook – that it is a girl’s job.  

But it does bring up a question, as moms I think we should ask ourselves: “Should we teach our boys how to cook?” 

It takes more work to teach our kids to cook than to do it ourselves. And yes, Cooking is traditionally “for girls”. Even in today’s “equalized” world, mom is the one responsible for cooking and feeding the family.  But yet many chefs are men.

My son cooked his first pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving 2008

I come from a family culture where it’s not unusual for the men to cook. Though I have never seen my dad cook outside the grill, one of my uncles spent time as a chef and is a wonderful cook. And, I learned a great deal about cooking, baking, and canning from my grandfather, who is the least ”girly” person I know. 

Personally, I’ve required all my kids  to be kitchen helpers, and we’ve done cooking activies together as a family. My son’s favorite memories are those when we all cook together – like the few times we’ve canned or for holidays when there’s so much to cook, we split up the jobs.

Last year when I gave my oldest daughter a day to cook dinner for the family, my son and both his younger siblings wanted their own day to cook. I was almost out of a job.  It became a time to learn to cook a meal that not only they like, but would also please the other members of our family. A practical on thinking of others and feeling that pleasure of serving a meal that others enjoy.

But this is our family. Where do you fall in on this? Do you think boys should learn to cook? Why or why not?

Please leave a comment. I’d like to hear your thoughts.

…Shannon

About two years ago, during a tough economic spell, God put it on my heart that I needed a backup plan. How would I homeschool, what resources, what curriculum would I use, if I didn’t have the funds to buy any more curriculum?

What would you do?

We’ve encountered our share of economic challenges – some of our own doing (debt) and some just part of life (moves, lay-offs, medical emergencies, etc.). So, it seemed very plausible that there might come a time when I couldn’t afford to purchase anything for our homeschool.

Now, I know that it is possible to completely homeschool with just a internet connection, access to a printer, and a library card, but I’ve never had to do it.  So I set off to figure out what resources might be found – and was amazed at what I found.

Not only are there some wonderful resources out there, but also there’s a certain feeling of security I have knowing without a shadow of a doubt that economic reasons were not going to keep us from homeschooling.

So, over the next few Monday’s I’ll share some of the information I found, so that you too can know that there are some great resources out there for you and your family, if you choose to prepare your homeschool for an economic emergency.

Next, I’ll share the top strategies you can use to ensure you have the homeschool curriculumn and resources you need, even during a financial crisis.

Until then, enjoy the journey.

…Shannon

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