Don't mystify homemaking

Fresh laundry by Charlene Winter Olson

Don't mystify homemaking.

Don't make it sound so complicated that a young woman wants to run a mile to avoid it.

Homemaking has been done for centuries, it isn't new, it isn't complex, it really is a necessity.

Many blogs that talk about homemaking make it sound so complicated and time consuming it becomes scary.  If I was young woman who knew very little about homemaking, I would be very nervous about learning the craft as some homemakers really like to mystify it and make it far more complicated than it needs to be!

In reality, women have been doing it forever and it isn't hard once you have learnt the basic skills. Once you have these skills, what you do next is up to you. Each of us interpret homemaking differently. What creative angle you add to your homemaking is up to you. How slow or quick you do things, is also up to you. You may have long lists of activities, others just wing it.  It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as what you do creates an environment that your family and you want to be in, a sanctuary from the world which offers peace and relaxation to all that live within the four walls of the home.  Most importantly, what you do, is done with love and joy and in the glory of God.

Homemaking is a very personal calling and one we all do very differently, but no one way is better or worse than the other.

Passion for cooking by Charlene Winter Olsen

Not everyone has been fortunate to have been taught the craft of homemaking from their mothers, so are having to learn "on the job" so to speak. This is much harder to do I would imagine. I have been blessed with a wonderful mother who taught my brothers and I all we need to know about homemaking, so by time I left home, it wasn't a complex tricky skill, it came quite naturally.  Others haven't been as blessed sadly and they may need some guidance . . . good old fashion help, nothing complex or tricky.

The peaceful bath by Charlene Winter Olsen

I have been watching "Express Cooking" by Nigella Lawson and it gave me an idea - whilst those with plenty of time can undertake homemaking at a quieter pace, those of us who work (or busy with other activities, such as a new baby) need to learn skills that allow us to be homemakers the "EXPRESS WAY". It doesn't mean I have lesser standards (as one woman unkindly said in another blog), it just means I do the same work at a faster pace (sometimes this requires "lateral thinking"). That might not be everyones cup of tea, but as we ALL need to be homemakers, those of us who aren't necessarily at home 24/7, need to find "express ways" of doings things. This can be hard if you are new to homemaking, but once you get the hang of it, it does work wonders.

Two of the most important things to do when express homemaking is PRIORTIZING and being ORGANISED. What is important and what is not and how to organise these tasks. The other skill to have is “selected neglect”, this may worry some, but if you can't vaccum the entire house everyday, only vaccum the living areas.  The world won't fall apart and nor will your house!!

And remember, do it your way . . .  the way your family likes it and DON'T COMPARE YOURSELF WITH OTHERS.  They are just doing things differently. 

“An ounce of evening is worth a pound of morning.” 

So true for any busy mum.

By Charlene Winter Olsen