The Power of a Teacher

The picture is of an island that we boat to then spend the day swimming and relaxing. We often pack a picnic lunch, a few friends or family. The day starts off early with me getting the cooler ready while various things like tow ropes and wake boards are readied. Then off we go to do a little wake boarding and playing in the water before heading to our favourite swim hole to spend the rest of the day. We are usually heading home as the sun is starting to set so I get lots of amazing photos. Now this doesn't seem like we are teaching but as parents we are always teaching and we have the power to be encouraging and promote life long learning or we have the power to turn our children off of learning. We advocate the first option and with activities like these we are constantly teaching our kids that family and friends are the greatest riches we have. As with most things I do, the digital camera is always close by!

For some reason this particular photo reminded me of the power of a teacher to either encourage or discourage a child. To survive, trees need nurture but at the same time they have to be strong enough to bend. That quality comes from gentle natural encouragement.

Throughout elementary school, I had encouraging teachers and learned a lot from relatives. Everyone around us home preserved including my mom. I can't recall ever seeing anyone use a canning recipe book and many still canned in the old fashioned jars with glass lids. I was totally fascinated by the whole process. I can still remember going to one of our neighbours when she was making dill pickles. She had this huge vat and when you lifted the lid, the smell was almost heaven! Now my mom used recipes from her head period. Nothing was ever written down. I don't even think she owned a recipe book and from what I remember her cooking wasn't all that grand as in fancy. It was basic, down home, country style cooking period. To her learning to cook was an acceptable thing for a young girl so she taught me the basics but with no fancy gadgets or time saving appliances other than a pressure cooker. Honestly that thing was scary! She was rather pleased when I said I was going to take home economics in secondary school even though it was mandatory for the girls then while the boys got to take shop. So here is the power of a teacher as I see it.

My home economics teacher was a horrid wretch of a person! She would make the most inappropriate and distasteful comments with respect to food in relation to bodily functions. She loved making any girl break down in tears with her many rants and raves. Berating a girl was all fun and games to her. Honestly I think she was having her own personal breakdown or she was just simply sadistic. I hated that class with a passion to the point I refused to do any cooking at home. At the same time, I had the most wonderful science teacher who had high expectations for students but was always encouraging. This explains why I went into science myself and have always excelled at it but that is another story. Back to my home ec teacher. She was finally fired by the school board after many, many parental complaints. But this does not explain why I still enjoy cooking and why food plays such an important role in my life.

I think the real conditioning was done while I was small by being surrounded by women who canned and cooked for their families. Most of them took great pride in their canning as well so by the time I encountered this discouraging teacher, her efforts while affecting me were rather insignificant. When we married, I was also surrounded by friends, neighbours and family who not only loved food but loved to home preserve. When our kids came along, I vowed they would be exposed to as much kitchen activity as possible from the time they were infants. I thought encouraging them to cook and be creative in the kitchen was very important. They are all very accomplished in the kitchen and will even try dishes I would be hesitant to make. I'm so glad I made this choice. None of them took home ec either! There's nothing better than teaching the next generation old family recipes, enjoying good food and lots of laughter. That's what it's all about.

As we gathered for Thanksgiving, I was reminded of how important a role food plays in our family. Family and friends started arriving Friday night and by Saturday had grown to about twenty-five by early evening. The food kept on coming! I marveled at how my husband actually jumped out of bed to make breakfast for everyone two days in a row. He loves making breakfast! Then there was the main meal and so many snacks we should be full until Christmas. Both family and friends flitted in the kitchen making one thing or another almost the entire weekend. What a wonderful thing to be thankful for, family and friends!