I wish I paid more attention in my home economics class. I have an
excuse, though. I was 10 years old at the time! Now that I'm 21 and
puzzled by everything from bike grease stains to the proper storage of
food, I'm making up for my lack of common sense by buying thick,
expensive books talking about stuff I really should have learned
during my education.

Over the past two weeks, I have come to firmly believe that home
economics should be taught throughout high school and college. It
would have been a lot more useful than my social studies or history
classes. (Indeed, a lot more useful than my computing classes…) What
if arithmetic was taught in the context of budgets? What if critical
thinking was tested through on-the-fly recipe substitutions? What if
learning about life was an essential part of the curriculum?

I'm not just talking about exclusive girls' schools, mind you, but
across-the-board education for everyone. I think the world would be a
lot more peaceful if people learned how to manage household disputes
and a lot more financially stable if they learned how to balance a
checkbook or make a budget. I know _I_ would feel a lot better
learning about these things systematically instead of figuring things
out as I go along.

Bring back the lessons on washing clothes and folding fitted sheets,
planning menus and shopping for groceries. It may be old hat to you,
but some of us here are figuring things out for the first time!