The Value of Home Economics: It Raises Crafters?

This afternoon I read an interesting blog post from Etsy  based on an interesting blog post from the Smithsonian discussing the societal value of Home Economics.

Photo from the Walter P. Reuther Library

Like the author of one of these blog posts, I avoided Home Economics like the plague, convinced it was the leftovers from a time when Mrs. Cleaver was the feminine ideal. As a feminist high schooler with college dreams, Home Ec was not for me...Or so I thought. What I didn't realize is that I had already learned most of the vital lessons at home. My parents taught me to cook from a fairly young age. They also made sure my siblings and I could sew on a button, use a cordless drill (shop class!?) and do basic chores around the house. While in my teens, my grandmother taught me to use a sewing machine. I mostly stuck to straight lines, but at least I knew what the knobs, buttons and pedal were for, unlike many of my peers.

The two blogs posts discuss how, if retooled and reformatted, Home Economics could be the solution to a variety of problems including obesity and I believe it. Although it was never my parents' intentions... or maybe it was... they raised three capable children. We all know our way around fresh ingredients. My brother bakes homemade bread. My sister loves to make cakes from scratch. I am on year two of a CSA membership and I love learning new recipes that use our veggies. I feel confident hanging pictures, dry wall and baseboards. The cordless hand drill I received for a birthday present has come in handy the past two years of home ownership. We're also a pretty crafty bunch. These days I even own my own sewing machine, although I still haven't attempted sewing anything other than a straight line. So far that line has sufficed!

Perhaps we have a portion of our DNA inheriting the ability to cook, bake, sew and craft. Or perhaps we were raised with basic life skills that many are failing to learn, skills that are necessary to be healthy, self sufficient and resourceful...I don't know. I do hope Home Economics is reinvented and that my children take advantage of it, but I feel happy knowing that they will learn these skills regardless of the education system's ability to teach them.

Side note:

This weekend my husband and I had friends over for a football watching party. I made chili. I put out our "good towels" in the kitchen... you know, the ones you don't really use unless company is around. I instructed Matt that "these are our good towels, so please keep them clean and don't wipe chili on them, Ok?" Ok. Here's what I got...

Thank you, Matt, for spreading the word to our guests. Good new! Our towels survived, unstained.