Patience, grasshopper. All things in good time.

I agree that the kids are useless as farmers. I'm somewhat obsessive-compulsive about the layout of my garden, and I never ask my adoptee to help. The other skills are somewhat useful, but as an example,
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A young child, after training, can whack around a bug net but rarely catches anything. They seem to improve with age but may need practice to get better. If you have infinite patience you can watch an adoptee finish off a killer bee or locust quest.