The Ideas Behind Home Ec Homeschool

My friend Chris texted me one day from one of my favorite restaurants/bars/bookstores/cafes in DC (we have a few of those). He had seen a book in the "bookstore" part of the establishment that he wanted to tell me about. The book was Radical Homemakers by Shannon Hayes. The day before, I was chatting with my friend Phil on Facebook, and he said "you're one of the most maternal and domestic people I've ever met." On my last trip to New York, Mitch and I bounced around ideas over brunch about parlaying my love of crafts and cooking into a blog that wouldn't be the same old predictable Neo-Granny-Hipster thing. As the weather got colder in the District, I found myself more home-centered, as I shifted ever so slightly into hibernation mode, staying close to my knitting needles and slow cooker stews.

I've always had an inclination toward homemaking. I've been a nanny for seven years and plan to spend part of my life working in child advocacy. Though like everyone else it's hard for me to find the time, I long to keep a beautiful home filled with healthy, whole meals and conscientiously managed consumption. While reading Radical Homemakers, I found a philosophy for life that I've spent years trying to put into words. It claims homemaking as a progressive and, yes, radical choice to shift one's family from a unit of consumption to a unit of production. It insists that homemaking, in a real and passionate sense, can be the catalyst for an equal and loving marriage or partnership. A family that allows one adult to stay home places a priority on that home and the care of those who live there. How many of us grew up with hurried meals made out of heavily processed convenience foods, whose parents worked so hard that doing laundry was a nearly insurmountable chore at the end of a long work day? My goal is not to say that those family lives do not have value, or that families in which both parents find fulfillment through work are deficient. Instead, I wish to examine a life in which the choice to stay home and focus full time on family, community, and home is also valuable. My current lifestyle is possible because wonderful parents make the choice to work and pay a good living to someone who (with the support of extended family) provides care to their children. (Note: due to privacy, I do not give details about the family I care for on this blog.) This is ideal, because it makes use of the skills I have to nurture the family whose parents have the skills they have. This is the kind of interdependence, as well as economical value of childrearing, that I support.

So here is the foundation of Home Ec Homeschool

1. A dual income is not necessarily essential to a good life. Don't get me wrong, I have no interest in entering the horrible struggle that is actual poverty. A large part of my childhood was spent blissfully unaware of the daily hassles endured by my parents as they navigated various forms of public assistance and difficult decision making, and I have no desire to endure that as a parent. My position is that it is possible to have a good life on one professional income, provided that a family is willing to adjust its expectations of what constitutes a good life. The cost of day care, take out meals, a second car, and many groceries can be eliminated with wise homemaking. I am fully aware that this is a luxury, and that many families truly cannot live on one income. I believe that homemaking as a community choice can make this option more available for more families who wish for it through the development of community interdependence.

2. Homemaking is not being a "Soccer Mom" or "Trophy Wife." It is not counting on a spouse to take care of you financially in exchange for you giving birth every few years. It is a choice to devote yourself to the care of your family, home and community, and it is being a part of a true partnership between spouses. Homemaking does not end at the home.

3. There are other ways to earn income besides a traditional "job." Caring for other's children in your home (a great option for families in which both parents find fulfillment through work but don't necessarily care for the day care model) like my friend and role model Meaghan did is one option. So is developing a skill that brings income with the freedom of an open schedule such as canning, sewing, auto repair, freelance writing, what have you. Some homemakers may choose to take part time work as their children grow, like Meaghan also did. A homemaker can still help his or her family financially while placing priority on home care.

4. A lot of the skills of homemaking have disappeared from common knowledge. The shift away from training girls to run homes to encouraging them to pursue education is, of course, a step toward progress and equality in a society that values professional achievement over home-centered vocation. In my Home Ec Homeschool, I want to teach myself (or find others to teach me) how to do things that our great-grandmothers knew by the time they married. A lot of this is for fun, a lot of it will be useful. I have an extremely fun, urban, mid-twenties lifestyle with a lot of free time. I want to use some of that free time to develop skills that will help me be a more conscientious and competent homemaker.

Yes, I'm a feminist. Yes, I'm getting an education. I have no desire to be a doormat or to insist that all women should stay home with their children in lieu of a career. I want to explore homemaking as a life choice informed by and consistent with feminism. I want to join a community that insists on the value of family and interpersonal relationships. Join me as I learn new things, editorialize on feminist and environmental issues, and seek out wisdom from others.