Lost Arts — and Finding Them With Our Kids

My five-year-old received a letter from my grandmother the other day. She opened it, and upon seeing the slanted, looping letters across the notecard, gasped excitedly, “What language is this?”

It was English, of course. But it might as well have been Greek. Because kids rarely see old-school cursive handwriting these days. In a jungle of texts, emails, Siri, and Alexa, cursive is an endangered species.

And it got me thinking about what else is on the way out. And what shouldn’t be. What just might be worth passing onto our kids.

Letters and other paper stuff

Just like cursive, all the places where one might have employed such writing are fading away. Letters. Recipe cards. Baby books. Real things you can hold in your hands.

And to me, that’s sad. Because I love looking at a recipe for shepherd’s pie that my nana wrote by hand (perhaps while the beef was simmering on the stove); my mom’s meticulous recordings in my baby book; a note from an old friend. It makes me feel a little closer to the person — and to that time — to have such relics.

We can’t control what will happen to paper and handwriting in future generations. So all we can do is jot a few things down for our own kids. Write them a letter. Record a family recipe by hand. Use your best cursive — or whatever handwriting will remind them of you. Maybe it will be a relic one day.

Board games

Let’s label this one threatened, but not quite endangered — yet. With video games and iPad apps out there to entertain kids, it’s stiff competition for the good old board game. But nothing beats sitting around on a rainy afternoon and playing a little Scrabble (or Scrabble Jr.). I love a slower game like this that allows for chatting at the same time. 

Fortunately, there are so many good board games for the family — and new ones coming out all the time. Outfoxed or Sushi Go, anyone? Put a few favorites on the bookshelf, clear off the coffee table, and make family game night happen.

Books

Every good bibliophile bemoans the end of books. (And then secretly snuggles up with their Kindle at the end of the day.) But it seems there is enough reading to go around. It’s great to read by tablet. But it’s even better to mix in good old fashioned page-turners. So here’s what you do: Surround your kids with books. Stock some in their rooms, the family room, a few in the car. Be a regular at the library. And let your kids see you reading a real book. Extra points if you talk about how much you’re loving it. 

The family piano

Not to get all Norman Rockwell on you, but the piano used to be the heart of the home. Not the TV. Not the Wii. The piano. In 1909, more than 360,000 pianos were sold in the U.S. More recently, those numbers are closer to 30,000. In fact, it’s pretty common these days to have to spend good money to get rid of a piano. (Which is why, when we purchased our home, we also inherited an old, made-in-Boston upright.) Kids aren’t as interested — or as available with their time — to commit to piano lessons, but it seems we could rethink that. Because with all the notes laid out before you, it’s still the best instrument to build a foundation in music.

Space a bit tight for a piano? Consider a keyboard or even the family bongos. Sharing a love of music is (ahem) key.

Doing stuff by hand

This list is long. Like ridiculous. So I’m just going to throw a few things at you that can be fun to do by hand once in a while, even if it’s quicker and easier to outsource or use a machine: Raking leaves, washing the car, baking bread, washing the dog, shoveling snow, making granola, knitting, woodworking, gardening, chopping wood, fishing, painting a door, making applesauce, sewing on a button.

Just like writing letters and playing the piano, our parents and grandparents did these things. Maybe our kids could, too.