Misperception and Failures

It's been fun to have women here and there comment about how they are enjoying the new blog.  What an encouragement to know people are reading and benefiting from our new endeavor!  A while back, I was telling one sweet lady a story about a failed beauty recipe I had just tried.  She said, "Oh, you should include that on your blog!"  A conversation about misperception and failures followed, and it was a great topic to discuss!  She thought it worthy to post in order to make sure people have a full picture of who I am.  Thanks for the idea, Colleen!

Let's start with misperception.  It's in regards to how people perceive...me.  It all began back when I declared that I was going to major in home economics.  The misperception then was that all I was going to do was spend my parents good money on learning how to bake chocolate chip cookies and sew something.  The mocking was most potent during my freshman year at Masters.  :-P  Over those four college years, the mocking subsided as all of us students matured and understood more about the work load we each carried.  I dare say that by senior year, many came to respect home economics majors because they saw the incredible work load of presentations/projects but also because they realized the value of what we learned in that department, both practically and spiritually.  But the misperception of holding a degree in home economics never ends completely, as I've found out.  Instead of being made fun of for baking chocolate chip cookies as Little Suzy Homemaker in home economics, you are perceived to be a Martha Stewart who knows it all and can do it all in Family & Consumer Sciences.

I am neither of these ladies.

Might I have a certain advantage knowledge-wise of cooking, sewing, home management, family finances, and the like?  Sure.  But that doesn't mean I'm perfect.  Neither is my memory.  And I did NOT learn all I know from my home ec classes.  Just ask my mom how often I called her when I was newly married for advice, especially as it pertained to cooking (and...how often I still call her...).  :-)  Mothers and grandmothers have a wealth of information that you just can't learn in four years of classroom, textbook teaching!  And experience is also key in all the areas home economics covers.  I learned a lot about the chemistry of cooking in Principles of Food Preparation, but I have learned so much more about cooking through 8 years of being the chef in my home.  It's been wonderful to see the science in action and figure out why some things work and why other things are epic fails.  The third way I have increased in my abilities beyond a home ec degree is the wonderful World Wide Web.  There is SOOOO much available at our fingertips to help each of us improve in the areas we struggle with!  Just incredible!

In no way do I want to demean my degree.  I highly value the knowledge and experience I acquired in college -- and the practical/spiritual training I received CERTAINLY changed me more in those four short years than any other time in my life.  (And I got a hubby out of it!)  But I just want to make sure that my friends and readers know I'm imperfect.  I fail every day in some area of home or family management.  Things are not always clean and straightened and perfectly decorated.  I get overwhelmed and behind in household tasks.  I have to seek out information and help often in order to discover new ways of doing things or how to do it at all.  All areas pertaining to Home Economics - Family & Consumer Sciences are areas that are ever changing.  We would be wise to be active in our pursuit of making our homes the most efficient, comfortable places for each of our families.  A four year degree just doesn't cut it when you're talking about a lifetime of home and family management.  Remember: knowledge, advice, and experience... all wrapped up in a neat bow of PRAYER! Then our management will grow to be a beautiful gift to our Employer.

As for the epic fail Colleen said I should tell you about...  I tried Dining on a Dime's recipe for leg wax.  (YES, leg wax.  Hey, don't fault me for being curious!)  I don't even really remember the recipe other than that it had lemon juice, sugar, and water.  You're just supposed to boil it for however long and then let it cool.  Well, lemme tell ya.  I let it boil, and boil, and boil.  It wasn't looking the way I thought it should.  I turned my back for a second, and smoke started pouring forth from the pot.  Oh heavens!  The pot went straight outside.  I had no idea what to do.  It [should be] common cooking knowledge that hot liquid sugar will burn the shananagins out of whatever it touches.  But if it cools, it will harden.  I'd never made hard candy until that night.  :-P  I did manage to save my pot (though I did somehow get a shard of hard candy in my eye while trying to clean it...NOT comfortable by any stretch of the imagination).  But there is still a pyrex bowl of dark brown hard-as-a-rock "candy" sitting on Hubz's work bench in the garage.  He said he'd try to get it out.  But I betcha I'll throw it away before that.  I'll stick to my razor and shave cream for now, thank you.