Learn What You Can at Home

Our homes are places of comfort and security. It is where we are most relaxed and inclined to try new things. My first disastrous cake was baked at home, where I could try again and again until I finally got it right. Now I bake and share cakes with much more confidence.

Without the usual spontaneity of showing up at restaurants, trying out new recipes has been increasing, with some actually being surprised at how much they enjoy cooking. I’ve heard from friends who have tried and succeeded in teaching themselves embroidery and crocheting within the last year. As much as they had never envisioned themselves succeeding, there was no stopping them once they started. This certainly helped cure their boredom and engaged them in something more than just sitting around and staring at their walls.

With people engaged in different activities, I was curious if those with children at home had considered learning or teaching basic manners as a new skill to attain. For most people, life pre-2020 was pretty busy. Parents who worked outside of their homes also had to worry about ferrying children to and from sporting practices, dances, music lessons, and all other activities they were engaged in. After all this, they still had to provide a good meal, help with homework and somehow have some time for themselves. With all this busyness, actively teaching our children basic manners or retouching on our own might have slipped by unnoticed.

This could be a good time to revisit basic etiquette in our homes. We could practise kindness to better prepare us for uplifting interactions with the outside world. We could also teach our children and set an example for them on how to be someone others would enjoy being friends with. In one of my lessons on kindness, good manners and consideration for others, an 8-year-old student decided to share his homelife experience. He said: “I don’t like it when my mum screams at me and uses bad words. It hurts my feelings.” It was unfortunate to hear a young boy share his pain in this manner. Even at the tender age of 8, it was clear that he understood how kindness or the lack of it made him feel. It is our responsibility to teach and protect those in our charge, keeping in mind how impressionable they can be.

Let us pay close attention to our own actions as we teach our children. The way adults in a home interact with each other sets the tone and establishes norms of engagement for their children. The lessons taught at home tend to shape our experiences throughout our lives. Let us be cognizant of this and work towards rejoining society as a more refined people.