Discuss: A Bunny Runs Around a Tree

To Joy Prescott- you say “Since we have a no-shoe policy in the house and at school (necessary here in the cold, muddy Maine winters), slip-ons just make a lot of sense.”

My opinion is that these things aren’t necessary. Many losses of skills and old-time habits are caused by matters of convenience. Slip-ons do make sense because of their ubiquity; if I were in your shoes (pun intended) I would use lots of mats.

Not criticizing your thoughts, just wanted to mention that I think subtle changes in thinking happen and we sometimes forget simplicity over buying something for convenience.

I posted an entry on my blog in response to this article. It can be found here: http://your-seeser.livejournal.com/2009/02/23/

Just read your blog entry, Laura, and wanted to say, “Excellent, cool idea!” This is exactly what we need: teachers and others in positions of authority or instruction with our children, who will teach them the skills of living on the Earth, so those skills will not perish. Since our society, which seems to be completely run and ruled by giant profit-seeking corporations and marketers of “quick-and-easy”, is making these things obsolete, it is up to us, each one, to make sure we teach or learn and teach some of those skills to the ones who look to us for guidance, wisdom, instruction, and approval. We don’t have to follow the lead of those who would make us obsolete; remember: arise, unite, organize, protest, overcome… all those “subversive” ideas we had at the time when we really thought we could change the world? Well, we still can. In fact, we better! And we’d better get to it right now! Here’s some of my list, that I can offer: Contact me to learn breadmaking, canning and/or freezing food, raising chickens, cooking whole vegetarian meals, designing a house, a permaculture landscape, read some wildlife sign in the woods and fields, identifying plants in the NorthEast, minimum yoga (salutation to the sun), massage, stacking firewood, planting trees and fruit-bearing shrubs and bushes and perennials for flowers for medicinal, culinary, or health-pleasure proximity, shrub pruning, hedge-shearing, and a few other things!

So….learn to can tomatoes! 

That’s the point, isn’t it?  Not shoelaces but that when we need and want to learn to do things, we learn them.  Humans didn’t always have shoelaces. 

It’s a romantic nostalgic view that we’ll all go back to livin’ off the land.  But if we needed to, we’d do it.  We’re remarkably agile and adaptable creatures, we humans are.  At least judging from our history. 

We learn what we need for right this very moment.

I appreciate your article and see the point…things have changed, and not always for the better. However, I wonder if everything must be taught in school? If you want to be sure your children can tie shoelaces, buy some shoes with shoelaces and teach them.  Do parents wait until Kindergarten to help children learn to count?  to recognize letters and colors?  to interact with peers?  I hope not. We cannot abdicate our responsibility to help our children learn what we think they should know and do.