As responsible human beings, we can't possibly know
EVERYTHING there is to know. Most of us learn as we go along, through our upbringing, education, experience...and putting all of that into practice.
Obviously, there is a lot to be learned
throughout a lifetime. I was thinking about knowledge and skills that are especially helpful to us.
Some are especially useful because we use them on-the-daily. Others are beneficial because they make our lives that much easier. There are even some can help us save a life...ours or someone
else's.
This week, I'm focusing on ten skills every person should know...two each day. Here are the first two:
1. Sew a button and/or mend a hem. When I was in grade school, we were required to take a half semester of a class called home economics. We learned basic home skills like cooking, sewing, and other home management necessities.
In that class, one of the first things we were taught was how to make a basic stitch, and then how to sew a button onto a piece of fabric. Both boys and girls, in Public School #25 in Jersey City, NJ had to take this class. Kudos to my grade school, way back when, for not only teaching it to the
girls!
These days, most schools have abandoned home economics class or have converted parts of it to optional, "take it if you want to" classes, like Cooking Class, or Childcare
Class. This leaves us with a whole bunch of grown men and women who are either spending money to have their buttons and hems mended, asking one of their parents to do the job for them, or not wearing (or replacing) perfectly good clothing that requires such a simple fix.
If you can't sew a button, Google instructions for doing so. It will come up with approximately 1,780,000 articles or videos. Mending a hem comes up with about 230,000!
2. CPR and First Aid. Just a
few years ago, my friend Brad was in a restaurant enjoying his lunch and someone started choking. Most of the patrons went into panic mode because they did not know what to do.
Brad,
a local chiropractor, however, put his First Aid knowledge to use immediately, performing the Heimlich Maneuver. Because he knew how to help, he was able to save a life that day.
Neither one of these skills are strangers in my family. I teach fitness classes, in addition to my professional organizing
business, so I am certified in CPR, AED, and First Aid. Same with my daughter, Amanda...she is a lifeguard. We get re-certified every two years.
But having a profession that requires
these isn't a prerequisite to having this knowledge and learning these skills. Most communities offer these classes.
Just do a search on CPR and First Aid classes in your area...and
make it a point in 2023 if you're not already certified. You can do so if you're 9 or 109!
To be continued tomorrow...
