Bringing the kids along . . .

[Michelle in Ga]

My kids think I'm a little wierd lately. But they're watching and asking questions. "What are you planting?"
"Why do you compost?" "Why do we have sheep?" "Why do we have to turn off lights?"
The oldest will even read the headlines from Matt's site and mumble about an uncertain future. They
don't want the big picture, but they're absorbing the bits and pieces. I don't think it will be such a shock
to them when the time comes, and they are slightly less materialistic. regards, Michelle

[jmhpolar]

I don't envy your situation Michelle, it's got to be tough.  Then again it may sound melodramatic but we all must be tough for what seems to be coming.

I have 18 mo-old twin boys and I am not exactly sure yet how I am going to explain things to them once they are old enough to ask questions about why things are the way they are.  Oddly enough, being of a technical and scientific background, I can handle "why is the sky blue", but how do I handle "why is <random disruptive societal change> happening"?

At times I wonder if they would be better off if TSHTF early and they grew up knowing nothing of the way we got there...  But that's pretty selfish I guess.

[OldHorseman]

"Why do we have sheep?"

  Yeah. Why do you have sheep?  Almost sacriledge to produce wool in the Land of Cotton.  ;-D

   We're going to have to start with a few hogs here soon. I don't much care for 'em, but they produce a high meat return for the amount of feed they consume, and can do well on lower quality feedstuff if need-be.  They also don't need as much space as cattle.

   Oops. Sorry. Wandering off topic here.

[jbizeray]

For me the saddest thing about PO is that it is likely that each successive generation will be less well educated than the former.  Its sad because it doesn't need to be that way.  PO could offer a far more fulfilling lifestyle than spending three hours a day commuting to spend 8 to 12 hours in a confined space.  I legged it to Madagascar 12 years ago because I could stand it no longer.
Michelle I commend your endeavours to teach your children not to blithely waste energy and to be self sufficient it will be so much more useful to your grandchildren since security involves so much more than a gun and some bullets. 

[OldHorseman]

For me the saddest thing about PO is that it is likely that each successive generation will be less well educated than the former. 

I think you may be wrong there...  The modern American institutional school system is designed to dumb kids down and make them controllable. Have you read the letters and journals written by common folk in the 1800s?  Compare their vocabulary, content, and form to the typical Myspace blog today.  Dickens toured America back when most of the country was horse-farming, before there was anything like "public education", and commented on how literate and well-read the ordinary American was.

Once the status quo breaks down and the public schools become full-time internment camps, the kids on the outside will probably be better off, education-wise.

[Torjus]

Luckily my kid is young and still will be when TSHTF. She will probably never know anything else. I bet she will become alot tougher than we (her parents) are. That is a little encouraging in fact. That she will grow up outside this rotten, consumerist society.

Torjus Gaaren

[jbizeray]

For me the saddest thing about PO is that it is likely that each successive generation will be less well educated than the former. 

I think you may be wrong there...  The modern American institutional school system is designed to dumb kids down and make them controllable. Have you read the letters and journals written by common folk in the 1800s?  Compare their vocabulary, content, and form to the typical Myspace blog today.  Dickens toured America back when most of the country was horse-farming, before there was anything like "public education", and commented on how literate and well-read the ordinary American was.

Once the status quo breaks down and the public schools become full-time internment camps, the kids on the outside will probably be better off, education-wise.

Sir, you point is well taken.  I as I mentioned have been living in Madagascar for 12 years; 2nd poorest country in the world never to of had a civil war.  The country has had steadily declining wealth since independence and is only now starting to recover.  In my opinion 80% of the population (50% under the age of 14) of this country already live in what I would consider to be similar to what you might call PO lifestyle.  I note that many of the children here are not as well educated as their parents and the parents are less educated than the grandparents.  Your point about Dickens's Comments perhaps only goes to illustrate the sadness of my comment.

[Michelle in Ga]

And the sheep too:

I got into sheep because of PO. Food and wool production. Jacob sheep are smaller,kinder to fences,an ancient breed,
low maintenance, more critters per acre with small size. I will buy them ahusband next year when they're old enough
to breed. I'm also going to try hand shearing and maybe wool processing.
I'm still looking for a livestock gaurdian, probably donkey/mule/or llama. Maybe a horse. I bought hubby a new 12 gauge
shotgun, so now he owes me some more cleared pasture and fencework. regards michelle

[JurisDoctorOfDoom]

Michelle,

Would you consider posting some pictures of your homestead and livestock?

[Michelle in Ga]

Not much to see. I will take pictures of the sheep today. My garden is gasping for water. I'll try to post them tomorrow,
unless I can get my clever 12 year old to help me. Or did you want pics of the arsenal, I mean home defense system?
Hubby said, "If we ever get broken into, we're gonna make the news!"

Reminds me of a story. We took pics of my oldest girl on her way to her first prom, as well as hubby posing with
his favorite weapon (read this is what will happen if you don't bring my daughter back!). I was showing them at
work. I got a few ews and ahs about the daughter, but a very loud "Oh Yeah! An AK with 40 round banana clip!
Niiiiiiiiiiiiicccccccccceeeeeeeee!" about hubby's picture. Boys and their weapons . . .

[7 Billion people]

I  have lectured and discussed this topic with my 21 yr old daughter who is a very motivated and positive person. She panicked. She literally became morose and depressed.

I worried for a long time if I had literally crushed her spirit. Nobody wants to plant pea's and how gardens for weeds when they're 22 yrs old...No they want ot go to the mall with their friends. Understandabe so.

Be careful on how much "reality" you bring to them at once. I would have preferred it to be over a 6 month period instead of the 2 hour conversation we had. They need time to digest and comprehend these critical issues without destroying their view of the future..

[GreenNeck]

I have 2 daughters in their early 20s who both live in Toronto. I have wilfully chosen to tell them nothing about PO or any other doom scenario (global warming, impending dollar collapse, etc). It will do nothing good for them.

I say let them do what young women do, that is shopping, dating guys, clubbing with girlfriends, and the like. They'll get the bad news one way or another some day (although not by reading Cosmo) and I don't want to rush that day. They'are too young to understand how to prepare for something like this anyway and don't have the means to do so. As their father I'll be there for them, God willing. As I said in another post, I'll have room for them in my little 'compound' if they ever need it.

My girls and their friends visit me regularly, especially in summer (we have a nice beach and dock on the lake). As you may imagine, they think I'm a bit of an oddball.

[bbketcher]

My early 20 something daughter is well aware of PO. It brought her way down. It was painful to watch. She knows it's coming, and is making some serious life preparations, but recently has let loose and is just having fun. It will be all too real way too soon, in my opinion, so I just let her be. It's good to see her happy again. Meanwhile, she helps me with PO preps and we have a great relationship.

[gylangirl]

The world is not going to end. I don't tell my daughter that. Instead I add stuff to her knowledge base that my great grandparents also knew.

I tell her that someday when electricity gets too expensive, then some conveniences may disappear, and she is going to need to know how to do things the old-fashioned way. Kids like the idea of learning how to care for a horse; growing food themselves; designing and crafting their own fashions; learning how to sail and row a boat. Right now that's all they can handle. And it is uncertain right now how much she really will need to use later.

In the meantime she still watches her favorite TV shows and shops at the mall. But she will also have the skills she needs whenever all that disappears.

My grandmother told me what it was like to ride in a pony and trap and to light her house with candles and oil lamps; my mother told me what it was like when WW2 rations meant never having seen a banana; and we were awed by their stories. My daughter willl be telling her grandchildren what it was like to fly to Europe, and they'll be awed by her stories too.

[gcox420]

sorry if this seems scrambled, it is my first post and i have a lot of ideas floating around.

I am in the opposite situation of a number of you.  I am a 23 year old student who has been reading about PO for a few months now.  I made the decision not to have children a long time ago and peak oil has certainly reinforced this.  Being the age that I am and with the minimal financial resources available on a student budget (thankfully no student debt), I am somewhat limited in the preparation I can make.  Quite the opposite is true of my parents, who have paid off their nice house in the suburbs and just recently bought a cottage/retirement home.  I read about people informing their kids of the situation, whereas I am currently trying to show my parents the light (or...dark i suppose).  They have a lot more to lose than I do.  They have worked all their lives for what they hope to be a "happy retirement" which may never come, while I am currently in the best years of my life and have just realized I don't have to work at a desk for the next 30 years.  They have an opportunity to retire now, sell the house, invest in some alternative energy at the cottage, etc, and otherwise soften the crash.  Unfortunately I am not sure how to convey the severity of the situation to them.  I figure that since I am young I have a more open mind and can see the world how it really is.  He may have been working to long (brainwawashed) to be able to accept that this "normal" way of life can't last.
I disagree that 20-something children should not be informed and "allowed to enjoy life."  There are a number of choices I see people my age making that don't make sense in the context of peak oil.  This includes buying a 25,000 car as soon as they get the first job out of university, buying a house in the suburbs, and not fully enjoying life.  I plan on finishing school in december, working for a year to get a professional designation (willl this help avoid a draft???), and doing things on my life to-do list a lot sooner than later.
Unfortunately, failing to inform my parents is not an option.  I can't say "I told you so" when peak oil hits because I'll be stuck in the situation with them.  I have given my Dad Matt's book to read, and have the doc End of Suburbia.  Does anyone have any good ideas? parents who have been informed by there kids, other kids who have informed their parents, etc.?
oh, and do we really NEED to get guns?  I live in Canada, we're all peacefull and whatnot right?  hmm, although I guess we probably starve the same as anyone else...