Adults must use the skills they have where children can see them

There are many worthwhile skills which parents directly can teach their children because they love their children more than anyone else. A hired tutor or teacher would not have that desired passion which a parent has. Few of the simple things, like painting, calligraphy and using Microsoft word was taught to me at home by my older sister and brother. My teachers at school would ask me, who taught me sketching and acrylic painting? It was something which was encouraged at home. My father is a mechanical engineer and one of his leisure was to spend afternoons under the car, fixing engines of other people’s cars. My brother followed his hobby and now he fixes his cars at home without the need of a mechanic or technician. My father is a retired Colonel from Pakistan Army, he designed tanks for Pakistan Army, he is very techy and finicky about getting things done right. He would thus do a lot of things himself, fixing his watch at home, fixing his shoes, fixing the AC, TV, water pump, door hinges and if he would hire a carpenter, he would teach him how to do stuff. My parents built their own house in their old age and were great in designing their house and guiding the architect on different plans. My mother asked me to design her kitchen on a paper in a rough draft to show the architect, she was sure I would put her mind on the paper, and I did so, our kitchen now is the same layout as I designed reading my mom’s needs. These are some valuable skills of life which came to us unknowingly through our parents and adults. I think there is a difference between worthwhile skills and worthwhile activities. Yet some of the other worthwhile activities which vanished growing up are laugh more & worry less, leaving things on Allah which are not in our control, having buffer time between daily routine chores, spending quality family time, cherishing each other’s talks, eating healthy food SLOWLY and staying in nature, specially spending more years of my life in Karachi, I have missed out on nature a lot! My older sister and brother disappeared from my life in high school, both traveled abroad for jobs and marriages. I realize how much I have missed them. I am a huge fan of spending true recreation time — re-creating yourself — in nature. Go for a walk or run an errand on my bicycle or on foot. True recreation should get your mind off our daily stresses and let our mind relax, and nothing does that like being in nature. I have heard that the colour blue is a calming colour, and what is more calming than lying on your back under a blue sky? Green is invigorating, and sunlight filtering through green leaves is the ultimate “green experience.” Watching sunsets (or sunrises), cloud gazing, bird watching, or watching boats on the harbor are all great outdoorsy recreation. Time in nature can be combined with exercise but doesn’t have to be. We all know that play is important for kids. Play teaches them coordination, adult roles, social interaction, and basic problem-solving skills. But somehow, we’ve fallen prey to the idea that play is only important for kids. “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”