We've only been here for 16 months -- so, as you can see, I've been very busy! I don't have any help yet, either. My oldest (Dominic) is only 3 1/2. He tries, though. Yesterday he was helping shovel dirt into buckets, put the buckets on a wagon, then wheeled the wagon to one of the many potholes, and dumped it.
Matthew
Wow Chant. I wish you luck with your efforts. It's not at all easy to attempt to seriously increase self-sufficiency.
It's true that self-sufficiency is a good thing, but that's not the only reason I'm doing this.
I am doing this for the benefits of the down-to-earth lifestyle, including health and the physical/spiritual health of my children. I want plenty of privacy and land for them to play on, and things for them to do in "the real world". Our kids won't be on "screens" until they're old enough to use a computer to do book reports or something. Even then, I want them to be able to write a report by hand first.
We know where the sun comes up and goes down, which direction North is, if the moon is getting fuller (waxing) or smaller (waning), and what the weather's doing. We're aware of the local weather patterns here, etc. We line-dry our laundry, so we can't afford to be ignorant about that.
When I was a teenager, and living in the city, none of that was true for me. I still couldn't tell you which side of my family's house faced south -- and I lived there for 10 years.
We also like to run "climate control" as little as possible -- we open the windows whenever we can.
Man vs. nature is a good way to build masculinity. A man HAS TO conquer something (not necessarily nature) or overcome some kind of obstacles, to be a man. If life is predictable and easy, he will be a wimp at best.
As a corollary, becoming a saint is a very masculine thing, because it requires much effort and discipline to overcome one's fallen nature and build up virtue. Too bad many men don't understand this.
Matthew