When I started working at Real Simple, a former colleague said “Real Simple is for people whose mothers didn’t teach them how to do all that stuff.” I knew exactly what she meant by that stuff: cooking; cleaning; ironing; doing laundry; planting perennials; balancing a checkbook; painting a wall; painting a fingernail; sewing on a button. All of those small-but-important things that perhaps a whole generation of women neglected to learn while they were running for class president, serving as captain of the swim team, studying for AP Statistics. (I know, I know: All of that got us out of the kitchen and into the boardroom, and millions of women—and men—are grateful for that. Until they have to sew on a button.)
Me? Well, my mother was a home economics major in college, and I learned to set a table practically before I learned to tie my shoes. I also learned how to sew (everything from school uniforms to prom dresses), to launder clothes, to clean a bathroom, to mow a lawn, to grow zucchini and tomatoes and then make a healthy dinner with them. Did I complain constantly about domestic duties? Probably. But I still use that knowledge today.
Two weeks ago I decided that, because he is 16, Eldest should know how to do laundry. (Something is wrong if you can drive a car but don’t know how to wash your dirty soccer socks.) Yes, it took me till he was 16, but better late than never. As I was showing him how to use stain remover, why it was important to zip up zippers before laundering, how the measurements on many laundry caps are so ridiculously confusing, I realized that I needed to start on his younger brothers sooner rather than later. These skills might not get them into college, but they will get them through life.
Then today in The New York Times I read an op-ed by Helen Zoe Veit, an assistant professor of history at Michigan State. Her piece argues that we should reinstitute home ec as a class in schools to fight obesity in this country. If we all could learn to cook healthy food from scratch, we’d all stop being so fat. Her argument makes perfect sense to me, and not just because it would mean that my kids could make dinner for me (which they do, but only occasionally, and Middle makes only hamburgers; “my specialty,” he says), thus allowing me more time to sit around and do nothing. Home ec would also help my kids prepare for life.
Does your school have home ec? If not, should it? If so, can I move to your town?
I wish they would start this stuff in pre-K. That is when thet are so eager! Again I used the reverse psychology (aka the Mark Twain effect). Result ” Mom, quit doing my laundry”…sucker;)
Yes, I had home ec in Jr and SR high. Loved it and now in my 50′s I still remember my first teachers and my first projects. Now I’m an avid quilter! So proud to say my daughter Katie will graduate in May 2012 as a FAC teacher.
I am a Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) teacher. Many would still call me a Home Ec teacher. I am proud to say that Pocahontas Area CSD makes sure each student takes a FCS class as part of graduation requirements. Iowa as a state requires schools to include FCS/Home Ec subject matter in their middle school/junior high curriculum. I am proud to be a Family & Consumer Sciences teacher. The curriculum I teach includes life skills students often do not get elsewhere. I do not teach how to mow but I do teach how to balance a checkbook. I do not teach how to paint your nails but I do teach how to take care of an infant. Thank you for bringing this topic up with your readers. I hope it starts a trend of more schools requiring FCS to be included in curriculum and graduation requirements.