Julie,
I really do not know too much about all this CM stuff. I am reading more and more about it all the time but I have to admit the term Masterly Inactivity is a new one for me.
![Embarassed :oops:](./images/smilies/icon_redface.gif)
But you mentioned life skill training and things that will help them go on their way. I sometimes find a lot of inspiration from Bigger on this. All the things that people knew how to do way back when that were very valuable skills and the things sometimes they did not know and was part of the problem. I try to take all those moments and teach deeper on things that relate to what is being studied but apply to today. I am really wanting to train them well on life skills. If that is not off topic it would be a good thread. I think it applies. I'll give you a short list of things we do for that as well.
Some life skills things we have done.
-Training them how to do chores and tasks around the house well. (I even have a book we read you would laugh if I told you what it was but you get the idea. We actually look up how to clean whatever it is we are cleaning and then decide what we will include in our actual cleaning.)
-We have included them in things like tiling a floor.
-I am faux painting so I am teaching them a little about that.
-I need to reseal some grout in the bathrooms they will seem and help me with that. Pretty much any home project they are included in or a few at time whatever works best for the task, eventually they all get it.
- I include them in list making especially if we are making a list of tasks that need to be done around the house and how we will fix what. Or how we will do a project and all the preplanning.
- We sometimes include them in finance talks and I explain to them how I pay bills etc and gauge how much money we have to spend on what. Later I will go into all that in detail. I really think all kids would benefit from an accounting class before they graduate.
- I make cards and they have seen that skill so they are now learning how to make their own fancy cards.
- We have a soux chef program and in that they help me put things together for dinner the night of but also they are learning to cook in bulk.
- I am teaching them all the skills I have in baking and cake decorating, and we start out general then get specific with one topic at a time.
- I take questions they have in science and teach them from what I know in biotech. (If I had a different profession I would teach them that. I was a dental assistant so sometimes I even teach them things that come from that, oddly what comes from that a lot is just organizing all the tools and items you need for a task and picturing in your mind what you will need ahead of time. That is a great skill to have, who would have thought ti would come from dental assisting. Eventually dh will teach computer programing)
-Dog training is one we are working on but desperately failing. But they also help me care for the pets as well and some day we will have success.
-Eventually I am going to teach them to sew. Right now Knitting is the thing even my son. I would love to learn more about quilt making and make a big quilt with all their sewing.
-Most of them know how to make a shopping list and check for what we need. I have them make a list and then I check it and add to it. Dh does the shopping usually.
- Last but most important is we are teaching them how to really study the Bible and when they have questions how to search for the answer.
Those are just a few life skill things that I can think of at the moment. I think in the end if you transfer to them the loves and passions you have along the way they might not pick the same passions but they will learn to find their own and that sadly is a skill many people lack in life. I guess basically I like to have a lot of hobbies and I do a lot of the stuff around the house that I can so dh can work. I have found I can have my cake and eat it too if I include them in my hobbies a little and the things I do here and there. Hope something there gives you ideas. We all have special things we can give to our children and knowledge that is unique to share with them. I like letting living our life bring things and also thinking about what I wish I knew back then and then mix that in with the things I enjoy in life. My husband does the same and they end up getting a good mix.