"Home Ec."

Warning: this turns into a little bit of a rant. Sorry about that. Really.

Some of you who don't know me very well were probably wondering why having string all over me was an "occupational hazard" or why I'm cooking with 7th graders. I'm a Family and Consumer Sciences teacher.

Everybody over the age of 25 just went, "a what?"

Home Ec. I teach Home Ec. Which, of course, means that I must be stupid or something. "Did you have to go to school for that?" is my favorite question. That didn't come from a teenager. No, that came from an adult. A professional colleague. I've actually heard it a couple times now. My second favorite is, "Oh, you teach cooking and sewing?" Yeah, and about 500 other things.

Add to that the fact that I'm a pretty fabulous cook, I know how to sew, knit, and crochet and for some reason everyone assumes I'm a total moron. It's as though people somehow think that knitting negatively affects your intelligence quotient. Now, remember, these are some of the same people who burn water and can't sew a button, but they teach algebra or geography. So they must be smarter than me.

Too bad that I can still do algebra and locate all fifty states. I can balance chemical reactions and I've read most of the modern classics (and then some...around 150 pages an hour on a good day). I teach teenagers how to cook and sew without hurting themselves or others or setting fire to anything. I teach them about personal finance and interior design and child development and personal relationships and everything else. I've had kids tell me my class is the only reason they decided to come to school that day. I teach your kid how to do the laundry, balance their checkbook, make breakfast, lunch and dinner, sew on their buttons, how to not get pregnant and what to do if they do, how to find a home, buy a car, and everything else they're not learning at home anymore because we're all too busy.

"Did you go to school for that?"