Can you cook? Can you do laundry? Can
you sew on a button? If you can I personally think your survival
chances just went up 50% over those who can't. Last week a friend
shared a blog link “Be a GD Adult. Learn To Cook” from the
Jezebel blog (yes I appreviated the GD word, I don't really like it).
I shared it on my page and OH the party began, lol..............after
my “storm” I went back and read some of the comments on the
original blog and found that the majority of the comments there were
Pro for these skills.
I agreed with a LOT of what Jezebel
said and a LOT of the commentors...............cooking, laundry, and
sewing are what I consider basic skills of survival in life. Now I
raised two boys and a girl, they are not that old but even when they
were in school any Home Ec or Life Skills class was basically
non-existant.
Home Ec was a staple when I was in
school but I have to say that I did not learn much from these
classes.............in fact the dress that I had to make ended up
going OUT the class room window three times and to this day I shudder
in fear and avoid if all possible putting in a ZIPPER! Okay to be
honest I totally avoid any pattern that calls for an evil zipper –
I put it right up there with having to get a shot! :(
Now this does NOT mean that I did not
have these skills at the time, I learned to cook at
home...........which was always an adventure since I am more of a
“dump cook” and my mom is an “exact measure”. Oh and for the
record, my mom couldn't boil water when she got married, daddy taught
her to cook and he did a mighty fine job too!
I think I only did one load of laundry
while at home and ever bit of that one turned purple...........but my
mom was a smart woman and she sent me to college with a box of Cheer
which had the instructions on the back.
Lol, I still remember
setting on the dorm laundry room floor with Cheryl Williams reading
the instructions and trying to figure out how to sort. Enter the
angel known as the cleaning lady and she helped us with that first
venture.................btw, later I found out that my grandmother
sent mom to college with a box of Cheer AND the cleaning lady there
helped her sort her laundry!
As for sewing, well a needle and thread
and I have a LONG history! I was helping my Granny quilt when I was
four, I always loved sewing...........to the point that it did get me
in trouble a couple of times. My favorite actually didn't ME in
trouble but it got Papa in trouble! Lol, he kept me while granny was
working, I made the most AWESOME dress from one of her big quilt
scraps..........she wasn't real happy when she got home and found out
what I had done. Come to think of it, I put a ZIPPER in that dress
and it totally worked...........but I guess it is much easier when
you are five years old and using just a needle and thread.
Fast forward a few years and I have
children of my own...........from the day the boys were born I vowed
that before they left my house they would know how to cook somethng
besides a ham sandwich, do a load of laundry without turning
everything purple, AND be able to sew on a button...........then if
they could find some stinking girl to do it so be it! At least they
would have the skills if they needed them. I did the same thing with
my daughter.........and yes she will probably be that “stinky girl”
some boy finds some day, lol.
Not only did we work on these things at
home, my kids were very active in 4-H, not only learning but also
competing in cooking, sewing, and other contests. Now some people do
not see a pride or value in a male knowing how to
sew..........lol.......in fact one year when my oldest son was about
10 and had just competed in the District competition for sewing, we
were at a local pizza place with my parents and some friends of
theirs. The gentleman is a “man's man”, former military –
oilfield – rancher..............he leaned over to my dad and said
“He is proud of his sewing, don't you have a problem with
that?”............quick note here, my dad was a BIG STRONG guy –
6'2” and he could pick up anything he wanted to pick up. My dad
leaned in and said “I know how to SEW, I helped my mother quilt
when I was little and I quilted part of each of my grandkids baby
blankets.........you got a problem with THAT?”...............btw,
the answer was a hurried “No, no problem”.
My point of this long story is
short.................Cooking, Cleaning, and Sewing are basic skills
that EVERYONE should know and I truly believe for several years we
have not given them the value that they deserve.
The list of BLAME is long:
Budget cuts
The push toward technology learning in
school (something always has to give)
Woman's rights (don't barbeque me on
this one – I KNOW females that refused to learn to cook so that
they would never be “stuck” in a kitchen)
Gender roles (face it we still are
biased towards cooking, cleaning, and sewing being a “womans job”)
Sterotypes (again there are people –
male and female – that think if a guy is cutting out a pattern he
must be gay)
Well the list is longer than you have
time to read. I think we need to get back to the teaching and
nurtoring of these basic skills for BOTH genders and at a school age
or younger! These are skills that you can set aside and pick up when
they are needed..............even years down the road!
I read several comments about the fact
of TIME and the LACK of it (mainly with cooking)...........and I do
agree.............but I also argue that is what freezers (my aunt
used spend Sunday making meals for the rest of the week), crock pots
(oh Lord Bless the person that invented these beauties - there are some great websites devoted to crock pot cooking), and
leftovers (cook it once eat it twice!).
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