Expect A Lot Of Kids And Maybe They'll Live Up To It
(Warning: instaplay video at the link -- but one that's good to watch.)
A 13-year-old girl, Sicily Kolbeck, built her own little house, reports Keith Whitney at 11Alive/Atlanta:
The little house in Marietta, all 128 square feet of it, is called La Petite Maison. It started out as a homework assignment from her teacher, who's also her mom."We say 'no' a lot in education to kids, and we tell them what to do and how to be and put them in a box," Suzannah Kolbeck said. "It's funny that this is a box; it's kind of ironic. But I never thought to say 'no.' She asked if she could do it and I said yes."
...The quality of the tiny [home] is exceptional. Sicily's mother said even though nobody builds a home alone, she and Sicily did about 80-percent of it. They got help with advice and materials from friends and businesses like their local Home Depot and Dr. Roof.
Suzannah Kolbeck runs a very small private school called HoneyFern. She admits the project was ambitious, but said it was also what they needed in the wake of the tragedy.
"Kids are amazingly capable and can do anything they want to do with guidance and help," she said. "That was one part of it. The other part was it was really a reason to get up in the morning. It's kind of silly and cliché, but it's true. You know, put my feet on the floor and say well 'Siding's got to be done today." There was always something to do. Having such a life changing event at such a young age and having the whole map of your life be erased, it's sort of starting over. So that helped a lot."
via @AnnoCNN
This is a surprise only because urbanites - and suburbanites - are isolated from rural America, which is only covered when Good Morning America needs to show those quaint backwoods people.
The ones whose preteen has her own rifle, and drives an assortment of trucks and tractors because she's expected to know how.
In the city, it just won't do to raise capable people. What would the victim industry do?
Radwaste at April 14, 2014 3:37 AM
Wait till Code Enforcement gets a hold of this story. I have questions:
Did she get a building permit?
Did she build it according to code?
Did she arrange for inspections?
Expect her/her parents to be fined for failure to do the above, and an order to dismantle the illegal building.
I R A Darth Aggie at April 14, 2014 6:39 AM
There's something about building and construction that's good for the soul. I think it's because, along with farming, it is the most basic expression of the human capability to build great civilizations. When I was a teenager, my dad and I belonged to a group that help build churches in poor areas. We did everything: pour foundations, lift beams, install plumbing and wiring, shingle the roof, paint and stain, finish carpentry, the works. You learn a lot of life lessons when you're sitting on a beam 25 feet above the floor trying to install a box for a light fixture.
And speaking of boxes: I get a little frustrated sometimes with people who yammer about "not living in a box". We all live in a box, in the sense that at any given moment we choose a course of action, and having so chosen we preclude other possible courses. The question is whether we take responsibility for building our own box, or allow/demand that others do it for us. Sicily Kolbeck built her own box, literally. Good for her.
Cousin Dave at April 14, 2014 6:44 AM
I R A, I think the fact that the building is actually a trailer answers your questions. There's a reason its "foundation" has wheels.
Gene at April 14, 2014 8:22 AM
> Posted by: I R A Darth Aggie
What does that name mean?
Do you have a keyboard macro, or do you type it out every time?
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at April 14, 2014 10:40 AM
In the city, it just won't do to raise capable people. What would the victim industry do?
Needlessly bitter. In the city, it would be pointless learning how to hunt with a rifle and drive tractors. No real use. It's more useful to learn to program computers and navigate bus systems, which kids do plenty of.
MonicaP at April 14, 2014 11:06 AM
Monica, you missed the point.
Few people in cities are portrayed as self-sufficient. An outstanding example of that is our own hostess.
Radwaste at April 14, 2014 11:35 AM
"In the city, it would be pointless learning how to hunt with a rifle and drive tractors. "
Maybe not, but it would behoove a lot of them to at least know what those things are. I meet too many urban people these days who haven't the slighest idea where pretty much anything comes from or how it is made. So when they are confronted with public policy questions concerning same, they just go for the feel-good slogans. After all, we can just buy anything we want from the Chinese, and the Scrooge McDuck Money Bin will pay for it all.
Cousin Dave at April 14, 2014 11:52 AM
I got the point. But what it means to be self-sufficient differs in a city. Even in rural areas, people aren't generally mining their own coal for power. We have to choose what we spend our time doing, and if you're learning skills that don't benefit you in your environment, you're being eccentric, not self-sufficient.
I say this as someone who sews, crochets, cooks, and makes her own detergent and yogurt and buttermilk, among other things. These things are fun and good conversation starters, but if I focused on a single skill long enough to become excellent at it, I'd probably be better off.
A self-sufficient kid in the city can ride public transportation, cook simple meals, troubleshoot printer problems and do laundry, among other things. Most of the kids I know can do these things by the time they are 10. Learning skills associated with rural life wouldn't be the most productive use of their time, just like a rural kid learning how to navigate subway systems would also be time better spent somewhere else.
Cousin Dave, I mostly agree with you. I think we'd all be better off at least knowing how things work. I do think, though, that public policy decisions that work well in small communities often don't work well when you scale up. Take the decision some small communities have made to have people pay individually for fire insurance. If you don't pay, your house burns down. Fair enough when the nearest neighbor is miles away. That would be a nightmare in a large city, where you can hear your neighbor breathing through the wall. I will happily pay taxes for someone else to get fire and police and sanitation services, even if they aren't paying a dime, because it benefits me greatly to do so.
MonicaP at April 14, 2014 12:22 PM
Wanted to add: The idea that "knowing how stuff works" and "not knowing how stuff works" is divided on rural/city lines falls apart when you actually look at what young people are doing.
I know plenty of mountain kids who did nothing but drink and fuck their way through adolescence, and it shows. I also marvel at maker culture, which has sprung up in cities. I know a guy who made a cocktail dispenser out of a slot machine. Not sure what kind of commercial potential that has, but he certainly knew his way around the electronics.
We have this boot-strappy idealization of rural life that just doesn't hold up under scrutiny. There are some very ambitious, bright kids living in rural areas -- and everywhere.
MonicaP at April 14, 2014 12:48 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/04/14/expect_a_lot_of.html#comment-4489570">comment from RadwasteMonica, you missed the point. Few people in cities are portrayed as self-sufficient. An outstanding example of that is our own hostess.
I'm not "from" a city. I grew up in Farmington Hills, Michigan, before there was much there. I can shoot a bebe gun and a bow and arrow, just for the record. I'm also very creative and often figure out solutions when necessary. For example, I figured out how I can wear noise-cancelling headphones to bed and still sleep on my side, and it's by using a u-shaped airline pillow upside down on top of my pillow. Took me 20 seconds, maybe, to come up with that. It's just that there are professionals who do certain things and I see no reason to do anything that takes me away from my writing when I can hire a specialist.
Amy Alkon at April 14, 2014 1:16 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/04/14/expect_a_lot_of.html#comment-4489572">comment from MonicaPPS MonicaP is right. Let's not romanticize everybody from Upper Bumfuck.
Amy Alkon at April 14, 2014 1:16 PM
Everyone who read this blog post will probably enjoy this link.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at April 14, 2014 6:05 PM
Then there are skills that are good in city or rural life -- like how to replace a faucet, painting walls, doing drywall, basic electrical replacements like light fixtures and switches, doing a simple oil change on a vehicle.
The number of suburban adults that can't replace a ceiling light with a ceiling fan; or any of the rest of it just amazes me.
I may not be an expert at any of the above, but have at least done enough of it that I can do it on my own if the zombie apocalypse happens.
Jim P. at April 14, 2014 6:18 PM
She seems very mature for 13. I find it heartening, especially since the story comes from my own suburban ATL stomping grounds.
lsomber at April 14, 2014 7:09 PM
Monica, your point is certainly taken. In an area with higher population density, there's more noses nearby and that means less fist-swinging room. And cities often have to rely on complex systems to support that higher population density.
But I think that makes it even more important for city dwellers that they have a basic understanding of these things -- because they are more complex, they tend to be less visible. I'm not talking about only the technological, but also the financial and governmental. For example, if you ask most New Yorkers, they'll tell you that the mass transit authority must be making money hand over fist -- look at how much the subway and bus rides cost. What they don't realize is that the MTA hasn't taken in enough income to pay its operating expenses probably since before WWII. And that's because they have no idea where the money goes. And that's on top of the fact that they don't have any knowledge of how the subway works, either.
You mention the scale-up problem, and that's a valid concern, but it also works both ways. There's areas of the U.S. where the city dwellers, thanks to their sheer numbers, have succceeded in imposing city-style policy preferences on their surrounding state or region (e.g., Virginia, New York). And in doing so, they have done a lot of harm to the outside-the-city support systems that their city depends on. And not only do they not realize this, but they tend to see it as a good thing that the country bumpkins are being forced to "get with the program". Look at how California is wiping out its agriculture industry so that Los Angelenos and San Franciscans can feel good about themselves.
Cousin Dave at April 15, 2014 6:55 AM
Hi.
Sicily's mama here. We did work with code enforcement, and because it is built on wheels it does not have the same inspection requirements as those structures on a foundation. Nevertheless, we did build it to international building codes, and Sicily pulled the wires and hooked up the electric under the supervision of a licensed electrician, and a friend who is in construction helped teach her how to measure rafters and frame the house. Plumbing was inspected by a plumber while it was in progress.
I think self-sufficiency is so important, regardless of setting, and we have also taught her how to sit a horse, milk a goat, and raise chickens. She is a catcher on a travel softball team with a .450 batting average, and she bakes the best chocolate cupcake I have ever tasted.
Next stop: Baltimore, where she will learn to live in the city. She has already been to multiple cities, but we are both excited for this next chapter. I have to say I enjoyed the comments on this article; I think the discussion is thought-provoking. I don't mean to interrupt; I just wanted to clarify the code issue, as it seems to be a sticking point for most when they hear this story.
Suzannah Kolbeck at April 18, 2014 6:01 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/04/14/expect_a_lot_of.html#comment-4508126">comment from Suzannah KolbeckSuzannah,
Wow, how cool -- both that you dropped by to comment and how you're raising your daughter! Kudos!
Amy Alkon at April 18, 2014 6:26 PM
Thanks, Amy. I think you hit on two key parts of the whole project: the saying yes part, and the part about persistence. I appreciate your post. :)
Warmly,
Suzannah
Suzannah Kolbeck at April 19, 2014 9:32 AM
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