The Gentle Approach to Homemaking

I have great sympathy for people that have to begin their day suddenly by jumping straight into a difficult and unpleasant job. The homemaker has the ability to arrange things a little differently by preparing the workplace so that she can ease into any hard task.

In my opinion there is just not much that is worse than getting up in the morning and heading straight into house chaos, so I am reminded of several techniques of our mothers and grandmothers, and some of our own, that help us ease into a difficult job at home.

Here is a list of things that will help in approaching the job without a big fuss or a panic:

*A set of clean clothes whose colors and style make you feel happy, but are sturdy enough to work in.

*A pretty tea top with a cup, and some of your favorite snacks.

*Bath products that you like: soap, scented spray, etc.

*Your grooming products and makeup, if you wear it.

*A soft scented home candle.

*A nice apron with pockets and a towel attached for quick drying of hands.

*Liquid dish detergent for sink washing

*An attractive and inspiring notepad with a special pen

*Music (free online music of your choice, from classical jazz to baroque can be found by registering at http://www.pandora.com/ and it is free. You can put as many different kinds of stations on it to listen to while working, if you are within hearing distance of the computer). My favorite station there is "Romantic Piano," on which is featured the piece played by Molly on "Wives and Daughters" called "Nocturne in B" . You can read more about it here http://thepleasanttimes.blogspot.com/2008/07/play-that-little-piece-of-kalkbrenners.html

Also add to your equipment

*A comfortable pair of rubber gloves that are also pretty, if you can get them.

*A broom you really like.

*Dish towels and dish cloths that are pretty.

This is what you do with all these things:

Bathe, dress, look in the mirror and smile, fix your hair. Make tea of your choice (I posted how to make berry tea or apple juice tea in a previous article if you do not use black tea or herbal teas). Put on your apron, sit down to sip your tea and eat your favorite snack. Take the fancy pen and write your list in your best writing on the notepad. Turn on the music, light the candle, and start working at the most urgent jobs first. Dishes are essential because of bacteria quickly forming, and so is laundry. If these things are done, at least, you will have the most important things finished before you run out of energy.

Easing into the job means to get prepared to go to work and to gather your equipment up and prepare your space. A man who digs a ditch will have to first get his tools and then clear away the area he is to dig. He will have to have a place to put something and a place to discard things. He will need a container for his tools. A homemaker needs to learn to prepare her area so that she can do her job with ease. Otherwise, she will find her feet hitting the floor and running from this to that all day long without a thought. At the end of the day she will crash into bed exhausted with her mind still whirling, not knowing what in the world she is doing. Planning goes a long way toward reasonable accomplishments.

There are probably other people born in the late 1940's-early 1950's who remember mothers hands in the flour kneading bread. Upon looking out the window and discovering the husband coming home, she reaches up and pats her hair in place. When she goes to the mirror she discovers white flour on her hair. I saw a painting once that showed such a sweet smile on the face of a woman who did thus, and such innocense in it all, that reminded me of this.

Like many women, I spent my life thinking about having a little house where I could sweep and cook and look out the window at the kitchen garden. This would be a cozy place of safety where my husband could have a little luxury and comfort from the rushed and competitive world away from home. My children would love it as the best place on earth. There was no station in life and no accomplishment that could hold a candle to the home.

Many women have wanted just that, and have found that there are institutions and people who want to discourage them from having a happy home as their goal. Instead, they find people urging them to spend a lot of money on college and then get into a career. Their dream of having a family and a little place to live gets further and further away.

Some naysayers think that one of the reasons to avoid full time home life is the very one I have talked about here: the seemingly insurmountable amount of work that a homemaker must tackle on her own. They think it is unfair and unworthy and that she can do much better in career. We find on a national level that home life and houses are deteriorating.

If life was supposed to be so much better when women entered careers and put their children in the care of others, by this reasoning, the families should be stronger, and the houses more orderly and clean. However, you can't go against what is good an natural and expect to have good results.

Any time the women are persuaded to leave home for the workforce, the army, ministry, or any other lower institution, the home and the family will suffer. I say "lower" institution, because the home is the basis of all society. Without the home, we cannot have good business, good government, good education or good churches. As goes the home, so goes the nation. The woman must be returned to the home and she must give it the status that it deserves. The above ideas for handling a home in disarray will contribute to this dignity.