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I posted this series on homemaking last winter, and thought I'd share it again with you this month. Lately I've stayed so busy that I haven't taken time myself to value homemaking, which (even though I *kind of* work) truly is my first job! Hopefully this will set me back on track. (I'd love to hear your thoughts on homemaking too. . .)
My sweet friend Lana sent me an email awhile ago ago that got me thinking about how fortunate we are as women to be homemakers. Whether you work outside the home or not, whether you have little ones running around or they're all grown up, and even if you're a single woman without children, I truly believe God created each woman's heart to yearn towards homemaking. (I'm assuming not too many men hang around Passionate Penny Pincher; if you do, bless your heart and please bear with me!)
So I thought I'd share a weekly brief series on homemaking, because that's what ultimately is most important, whether we're pinching a few pennies or cooking up a yummy meal. Hopefully you'll put up with me through this one, and feel just a little as inspired as Lana made me feel.
Here's what Lana (who has recently gone back to work after sixteen years as a full-time homemaker to her three sweet girls) had to say that got me thinking . . .
I am a homemaker at heart. I never liked the term stay at home mom because I think it sounds too indulgent – a stay at home mom could literally be sitting on the couch watching Oprah and eating bon-bons and sending the kids away to watch a movie…but a homemaker, how can they be anything but striving to be a Proverbs 31 Woman?
Isn’t that a beautiful word, homemaker? You can make a home for anyone, the babies, the pre-teens, the teenagers, the husband, the dogs, and cats. It's an art to make a home and even though it is an old-fashioned word it makes me tear up thinking about the job description. It’s all I ever wanted to be…..
- It's cream cheese bagels and coffee in the morning before rushing out the door
- It's Easter bunny cupcakes for the school party
- It's a strategically packed pool bag so every possible calamity that can happen out of doors can be remedied (with a sucker in the pocket for the 2 year old because that can fix anything that the bag of tools can’t . . .I hated it when that trick stopped working. . . .)
- It's Saturday night efforts so that everyone looks really cute (and sometimes coordinated) for Sunday morning worship
- It's one-cent school supplies and pulling them out to pack in a back pack and watching your children react when it looks like $100 worth of goodies
- It's fresh fruit smoothies, and boxed mixed muffins, and all those things that LOOK like they took a long time to prepare and how your children look up at you like you are Betty Crocker. . .
- It's organized doll clothes, and DVDs and board games and hair bows, and littlest Pet Shop Toys (and I am sure all those little boy toys too!)
- It's the reason little girls play “baby” and “kitchen” because they inherently want to do it well someday. (Maybe little girls that are a product of this generation will play “couponing” . . .)
Lana has it just right doesn't she? Homemaking is so much more than simply creating a meal or pinching a few pennies, it's turning your house into a home. And as a couponer, it's why I like to be reminded to take on those five minute challenges or bake up a yummy treat: I simply don't want to spend every moment of my life only penny pinching, instead I want to also take time to be the wife and mother God desires me to be. (And it's often hard to recognize the value of those things when I'm too busy looking for another deal!)
So how does homemaking look to you? Do you love it or fight it? (I think I do a little of both . . . ) Stop back next week for more of the story, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on the value of homemaking in your own home.
The rest of the series:
Photo courtesy of Cake Girl on Flickr. Isn't that one cute cake?
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For me homemaking is working hard to have the best of both worlds. God called me to be a Speech Pathologist and a mommy. I used to want to stay at home but school was such a challenge and I truly feel I make a difference. I feel blessed that my husband, mom, and a good friend keep Deacon while I work. I have been blessed to work in a nursing home and work with people at the end of their life and now I’m blessed to work with children.
So for me homemaking is planning themed nights at home, preparing lunches for us to take to work and school, church activitie, and providing speech therapy to children who need it. I make the most of every second I have at home with Deacon and every break we have from school.
I respect moms who work and moms who don’t. Being a mom in and of itself is a very hard job!
I definitely think working mommas are still homemakers!!! (I hope I didn’t make it sound differently….) After “working” from home blogging, I have a whole new perspective on how hard it is to work, and I really am struggling to keep up the homemaking part of my job. There are days that I’m so thankful to sneak away with my laptop to work, so I feel incredibly blessed to be able to do both. Love that you’ve followed God’s calling into your work! 🙂
No I think you did a wonderful job on your post!
Oh good – I got worried Lindsey and felt horrible …I almost emailed you) 😉
My 3 1/2 year old daughter already plays “coupons”. I gave her my old organizers (the one I used before I really got serious about it) and she can spend a good long while clipping out coupons with Mom. It is great for her cutting skills and she love putting them in the pockets. Some day (sooner than I want it to) she will be cutting out the real ones.
Love that Christine! My 4 year old helps me clip, and while it terrifies me sometimes (she gets so close to those expiration dates!), it does keep her busy. 🙂 I try to give her extras I won’t use!
As I read this I sat here in tears because growing up all I ever wanted was to be a wife and a mother, nothing more nothing less.. Well I got the wife part and I love being a wife, I love having a husband even on the worst of days but I did not get the children, I did not get to be a mommy like I longed for and if I admit it to myself I still do in my heart. I wanted to be cupcake baking mommy, the field trip mom, dance or whatever they choose mom. But I never got any of that. Now I did get two stepsons and they are older, but its not the same as your own. When I read this it did make me realize something that I am not just a stay at home wife, I am a mommy to 3 dogs that I believe at times does take up a lot of my time. I love being a stay at home wife, I set my own schedule and Do things at my pace. Now the housework well now that is another story but what woman in America loves to clean..LOL
Bless your heart Holly! Maybe I’m crazy, but I truly believe all of us as women are homemakers (kids or not!) I can imagine that having stepsons is not the same as your own, but God has a special plan for you in that too I’m sure 🙂 It’s hard to remember some days the value of homemaking no matter who we’re homemaking for, but there’s definitely value in what you do.