The Simplicity Primer by Patrice Lewis

It has been awhile since I felt I could recommend a book to everyone, and here is one I just received and can recommend wholeheartedly to women who want to be home. First of all, I just love pears and pear pictures, and once had a 6 piece canister set with hand painted pears.  My whole kitchen was pear-themed including matching curtains, potholders, dishtowels and dishes, so when I saw the cover of this book, I knew I wanted to see what was inside.

I have spoken to this author on the phone and I immensely love her wry humour and her quick summation of issues. Farm girls are the absolute best when it comes to clarity, and Patrice has told in simple terms how the feminist movement has bamboozled women into thinking that being a full time wife, mother and homemaker is just not intelligent or sophisticated enough. The chapters of this book are short and sweet and also make you laugh. My favorite is the one about reading a book. My mother was a homemaker and she was not always scrubbing floors--she read!  We used to have a big box of books that went from homestead to homestead. When we finished reading the box of books we sent it to the next homestead for another family to enjoy, and so every homestead wife had plenty to read to get through some of those long days when the sun never set or the dark winters when the sun never came. 

Because the prevailing culture does not approve of or support homemakers, many women feel guilty if they want to sit down and read a book. Since they are not earning money they are somehow free-loaders who don't deserve any leisure. Therefore if they are not on their feet all day working in the house, they are not deserving. But Patrice encourages women to go back to the old ways where women determined what they would do and when they would do it based upon what was the most needed at the time. There is a time to sit and read and a time to hang out the wash. There is a time to teach your children and a time to take a nap. there is a time to plant, and a time to pluck up. Bravo, Patrice.

I think women lost their God-given power over the home and the family when they succumbed to the feminist propaganda that they could not stay home unless they: a) had young children, b) had a home business and c)were retired with a pension, or d) were going to school to pursue a degree or e)any reason besides being a keeper of the home, as long as it involved money.  Women at home find it hard to read a book without guilt, and that should not be so.

Farm girls see life through the reality of rural existence, and Patrice has written a book that will put ease any fears or tension you have regarding this issue of being a homemaker, homeschooler, and CEO of the home. She covers finances, manners, cooking, cleaning, gardening, health, husbands, and a chapter on "educational snobbery."   These are short chapters, easy to read and understandable, which is perfect for a busy woman at home.

The Simplicity Primer is like a day-book, and you  will probably find that what you read is perfect for the day that you read it.

For more about Patrice, go visit her here http://www.rural-revolution.com/ and her website is here http://www.simplicityprimer.com/

You can find The Simplicity Primer here. If you get a chance to read it, please leave a review!