The concept of a modern hope chest occurred to us 20 years ago.
You know what a hope chest is, don’t you? Here’s a definition:
“A hope chest, also called dowry chest, cedar chest or glory box is a chest used to collect items such as clothing and household linen, by unmarried young women in anticipation of married life.”
Hope chests, traditionally, were used to store up items that a woman would need someday for her home.
A modern hope chest 200 years ago would be filled with linens, embroidered cloths, dish towels, pillows, maybe even woven blankets. A woman or the women in her family made these home items specifically for when she married.
Today, a traditional hope chest — for men or women — isn’t as necessary as it once was. Now, anyone can visit a local store and pick up whatever they need for daily life, at least in the United States.
Indeed, wedding registries take the role once filled by relatives, friends, and hardworking folks focused on building a household.
But my husband and I recognized long ago that possessions for a “modern hope chest” were not so important.
In the 21st century, people need skills.
Modern Hope Chest= Practical tools and necessary skills
At high school graduation, we gave them rudimentary tool chests — our daughter’s was pink. (Our niece refers to hers as “Barbie tools.”)
They contained a simple hammer, screwdrivers, jeweler’s screwdrivers (for their computers), a tape measure, and other items they might need in a dorm room or apartment.
When the children graduated from college or married, my husband purchased a “real” tool chest. He filled this modern hope chest made of gray metal with saws, wrenches, electric drills, and other items needed in the “real” world.
We also make copies of all their important papers, including their passport and birth certificate, and put them into a binder. (We keep the copies).
But in the knowledge-based United States, young people need other items in their modern hope chest.
My husband required the children to do their taxes starting in high school.
They learned how to change a tire, as well as check the fluids and air pressure (I may have taught them some of these skills as Cub Scouts).
Given free rein in the kitchen in high school–sons and daughter alike–they became pretty good cooks.
Laundry, yard work, and managing money are easy for them.
(Notice I did not say checkbook. They don’t really use a checkbook except in extreme situations).
Other life skills needed for a hope chest
As a former budget counselor, I taught them the difference between needs and wants.
They learned the difference between a good deal and a bad deal.
On every used car they bought (they only bought used cars), my husband showed them how to tell whether the engine was well cared for. (Check the exhaust pipe).
We taught them to value members of the opposite sex–particularly in the dating years–and how to be courteous to old and young alike.
They all babysat at one time or another — sometimes each other.
We’ve met many young people who don’t have these simple skills.
They don’t know how to hammer a nail, don’t understand how to do their taxes, would never think of buying a used car, and certainly don’t know how to paint a room.
We all need such skills.
Even I, a disaster waiting to happen with tools, know how to find a wall stud, turn off the toilet water valve, and even tighten the handles on my pots and pans.
I didn’t have the tools to do those types of household chores before I got married.
Therefore, my husband’s toolbox served as our modern hope chest, too.
What types of skills and tools do we all need for our hope chests?
Thoughts? Reactions? Lurker?