making the radical claim "11 year old children should be taught how to make extremely simple food" has resulted in people making arguments like "I wasnt allowed to plug in electronics until I was 16 and I think this is super normal actually" and "children dont know what ratios are so its unfair to expect them to be able to comprehend the idea of adding equal amounts rice and water to a rice cooker" and I gotta say originally I thought maybe I was being too judgy but now I feel very secure in my opinion because what the fuck
edit you are all so annoying and wrong everyone shut the fuck up !!!!!!! i literally do not care what year you learned to cook and the way you all view disabled people is fucking gross.
I'm gonna double down on "11 year old children should know cooking basics" and state firmly that 6 year old children should know cooking basics. By the age of six I could assemble basics foods like macaroni and cheese or instant noodles, could follow recipes and make (box) cake or cookies, knew how to measure ingredients and stir and pan and boil and bake. I was allowed to use sharp knives and use the stove and oven. I could bake bread.
Hell, I was 'helping mommy/daddy cook' by cracking eggs and stirring things and flattening dough balls etc at the age of Three.
If your parents didn't begin teaching you these skills as soon as you had the gross motor functions to perform them, they were being negligent.
At what age do you think a child with normative motor skills development should be able to -dress themselves- btw? At what age should a kid know how to use buttons, tie shoes, etc? These are similar skills to cooking in terms of gross motor function.
When I was 7 and my brother was 10, we moved. With the move, we became latch key kids because a school bus could drop us at a park very near the house which hadn't been true at our previous home.
It also meant, because we now lived in earthquake territory, that there was a possibility that we might end up at some point caring for ourselves in an emergency like a major earthquake for a day or two if they struggled to get back from work due to infrastructure damage (like bridges).
We'd been taught from a very early age to cook - helping as soon as we were able to improve motor skills as @moniquill says above - and could both pretty confidently prepare a few things.
Due to the new situation, my mom spent a Saturday in the kitchen with us, working through how to make 4 things from pantry/fridge staples (no ingredients that wouldn't generally be kept on hand) that we would definitely be willing to eat to ensure we wouldn't starve if that happened.
And my dad spent time teaching my brother to safely use the camp stove if we lost gas/power in that circumstance (he would do the same with me a few years later, but at 7 I was both a bit young and a bit of a fire bug).
They did these things, both teach us growing up and teaching us more in this specific circumstance because cooking is 1) a survival skill and 2) a teachable skill with numerous levels of knowledge (starting at 'toddler, move this spoon around this bowl') making it great as children grow.
And acting like kids aren't competent to be taught to feed themselves is just another way to take away their agency and independence. Stop infantilizing teenagers. Stop infantilizing 8 year olds. They are functioning human beings with functioning human being skills and should be treated as such.
*takes everyone by the face*
Teach your kids to steer a car.
If you EVER go to the lake or go camping or into any area where other people are scarce enough not to be in sight at all times, and they physically can apply full force to the pedals and turn the wheel fully. teach them to steer a car.
I don't mean drive in traffic. That is way too much, and everyone would die. I mean being able to put on the hazard lights, stop, start, and steer. Not to be too action movie, but they need to be able to go for help down a two lane road in an emergency until they see another car. Like if you're at the lake or camping and the adults are injured.
If you can find a safe space to do this where the cops won't come for you, do it.
Also, teach your kids how to get to familiar places you go often, without a phone. I'm serious. They may have to help a friend or family member navigate by sight. They need to know arterial roads and landmarks as soon as they can, and the nearest major intersection or landmark to your house. Make it a game. But TEACH THEM.
Teach them your full names and address the minute they are old enough to retain this information. I was HORRIFIED in 2nd grade how many kids didn't know their addresses, or their own parents' ACTUAL NAMES.
Teach them your phone numbers and that of a couple of other trusted adults. Not every situation they may need to know this in will warrant 911.
