Northland woman seeks ‘nana’ to teach old-school skills and wisdom

Kerikeri resident Louise McCaughan is seeking a nana to impart her grandmotherly wisdom. Photo / Jenny Ling

A Northland woman is searching for the perfect nana or two to impart old-school life lessons and skills.

Thirty-six-year-old Kerikeri resident Louise McCaughan has advertised on social media for “one or more mature women to fill the role of nana in my life”.

Australia-born McCaughan, who has lived in New Zealand for 14 years, said she wanted to learn sewing, crocheting, baking, handicrafts and other skills from an older woman as all her grandparents had died.

“I miss having aunties, grannies and older relatives around that can teach me practical things,” she said.

“If my grannies were still alive, I’d be taught their recipes, how to knit and other skills they had acquired over their lifetime.”

McCaughan, a mum of two children aged 7 and 8, said she was seeking a mentor to pass on wisdom that was common knowledge 50-odd years ago.

The idea was also borne from conversations with friends who dream of returning to simpler times and undertaking tasks such as preserving and baking bread.

Northland mum Louise McCaughan wants to learn old-school skills such as preserving fruit and vegetables from her garden. Photo / Jenny Ling

“You can learn everything on Google and YouTube but I would rather someone teach me side-by-side,” McCaughan said.

“I want to learn the skills but also make some solid relationships with women from different age groups.

“They’ve lived life, they have different perspectives and they’ve seen things.”

Whangārei Age Concern president Beryl Wilkinson said seniors had “an enormous amount” of skills and enjoyed sharing them.

“Older people lived in times when they had to be creative and use what was available to them.

“They used what was in the garden and orchard and focused a lot on preserves and retaining supplies through winter.”

Life coach Maria Quayle-Guppy, from Reset Mindset in Kerikeri, said learning new tasks helped with work-life balance and released “feel-good” hormones in the brain.

“That makes everyone feel they’ve achieved something.

“Achievement builds hope and motivation and makes you feel inspired.”

McCaughan has already had a couple of responses to her social media post “saying yes, I’ll be your nana”.

“Others are saying they’d like to have a nana.

“I’ve realised a lot of us are craving that connection with an older person.”

McCaughan said she was looking at setting up a group to connect generations of women and was in the process of finding a venue.

Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with roading, lifestyle, business, and animal welfare issues.