The Nitty Gritty of Homemaking

As I was blog hopping today, I ran across some blogs that extolled the virtues of being a homemaker who didn't need a list to tell her what to make for dinner or what needed cleaning in that day. Some of the comments were downright rude toward those of us who do. Rather than leave a nasty anonymous comment, I decided I would comment about homemaking on my blog. So here is what homemaking means to me.

For me the definition of homemaker is... someone who makes a home. Period. Homemaking is so much more than just cooking, cleaning and doing chores.

If I have a clean home but my children are relegated to their rooms to play, then who am I cleaning for?
If all of the laundry is washed, dried, ironed and folded, but I have neglected time with my husband or children, who did I do the laundry for?
If I make four-course meals completely from scratch, with no recipes, but I work myself into a frenzy and am a stressed out housewife, who did I make the meal for?
A homemaker is patient (even when her children threaten to step on the last little bit of her sanity), kind, is not envious (because she is content with what God has blessed her with), is not boastful (because she realizes that pride comes before a really big fall and that true greatness need not be advertised), is not rude (she holds her tongue even if it means biting it off), is not self-seeking (her family's needs come first), is not easily angered (even when spending all day alone with preschoolers..), she keeps no record of wrongs (even when he forgets to pick up his socks for the zillionth time...but who's counting?), she does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth, always protects (guarding the gate of the home...setting the atmosphere with praise and prayer), always trusts (trusts in the One Who is proven trustworthy), always hopes (never lets disappointment keep her down for long), always perseveres (holds on with tenacity to that which is most important).
Lest I seem sacrilegious, my point is that a homemaker is supposed to be the LOVE of the home. The Mexicans call homemakers, ama de casa--"love of the home." I think they have it right!

So I may have to make a meal plan in order to have healthy, frugal meals for my family. I definitely need a list of things to do throughout the day. I was not born organized or without the tendency to get sidetracked. I make a list to keep me on track and accomplishing my goals for the day. This does not make me less of a homemaker.

For goodness sake's, are homemakers now defined by their back to the pioneer days mentality, or lack of? Everyone has to have a label it seems and there is even competition within the domestic ranks? How sad.

I prefer the plain, unadorned label of homemaker. Because that is what I am doing, day in and day out, making a home for my husband and three children. But I am doing it for them, not in spite of them. I refuse to see them as a nuisance, the final hurdle to get over before I can have that picture perfect home that I see in Better Homes and Gardens. Instead, I choose to focus on those things which have eternal value..the people in my home.

"Cleaning and cooking can wait 'till tomorrow

For babies grow up, as we've learned to our sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep,

I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep."

--Author Unknown