What is homemaking?
Homemaking is so much more than just cooking & cleaning. It's a responsibility to your home and your loved ones. Being a good homemaker entails keeping a sanitary and organized home; making nourishing meals for your family. Taking care of your home, your children, your spouse, and your pets.
Being a homemaker means to look after the affairs of your home, to care for those within it. It includes being a good steward of your household finances, tending to the needs of others. Serving your neighbors, friends, and family.
Caring for your home & family
stew·ard·ship
noun
the job of supervising or taking care of something, such as an organization or property.
Homemaking takes work, it's up to you to keep an organized home, to nourish your family , to create a beautiful home environment. It takes commitment , it can be very easy to neglect your responsibilities as a homemaker if you are unmotivated.
Modern vs. Traditional
Often in modern relationships where both partners work tasks get delegated between both people. When you're a homemaker, almost all of the household responsibilities fall on your shoulders, your spouse may take out the trash or do yard work, but when you're a homemaker the needs of the household are your responsibility. To be honest I find this entirely refreshing , responsibility fosters a sense of purpose in one's daily life.
Every Homemaker is Different
Being a good homemaker does not mean being perfect, it simply means that you look to the needs of your home and family and fulfill them.
It is important to remember not to compare yourself to others as a homemaker, your household needs may be much different from other couples or even other homemakers. A stay at home mom of 3 will have much different priorities than a newlywed wife with no children.
Much more than basic chores
I’ve heard the argument before from couples who work outside the home that they “do all that a homemaker does and still work” , therefore they don't see the purpose in homemaking. This I would say is inaccurate, maybe they keep up on basic household chores and manage to work, and have found wonderful daycare or family members to delegate childcare too. But what a homemaker does entails much more than basic household chores, and childcare.
Most homes nowadays lack in even those areas, most households do not put a significant effort into creating nourishing meals, which is why fast food & takeout has become so popular. Often many homes nowadays have a level of uncleanliness that could be considered borderline unhealthy, which needless is pretty common this day and age. It has become more difficult then ever for families to keep up on household work, sparking a debate about gender roles when it comes to cooking,cleaning & household responsibilities. Many would argue that women work two jobs , their day job and what is now referred to as "the second shift".
The cost of childcare
I have no judgement for those who manage to keep up their home and work. I admire their ability to handle so much, and still keep up on their responsibilities. In fact, Childcare has become a difficult issue for working parents according to americanprogress.org low income families spend over ⅓ of their income on childcare & more than half of working families with children under the age of 5 pay for daycare. This, in my opinion, is just one of the many benefits of homemaking, the ability to care for your children yourself.
A job just like any other
Homemaking is a job just like any other, it may not bring in monetary value, but clearly can save you money , whether it be through eliminating the cost of childcare or reducing the cost of food through making home cooked meals from scratch.
Homemakers work diligently every day to run their home well, to keep a clean and tidy space, to nourish their families with homemade food. They care for their children and raise them up themselves, and they stretch the family budget with skills such as baking from scratch, sewing, or gardening. Being a homemaker can be a fulfilling lifestyle, as long as it is treated as a career, and as a responsibility to your home and your family.
While the appreciation for homemakers has waned over the years, I do believe the need for them is still alive and well, even if society currently derives more value from monetary work. The need for housekeepers and nanny's is on the rise, & working mothers are struggling to have quality time with their children. I think its pretty clear their is still a space and purpose for homemakers to fill.
If your a homemaker (or aspiring to be one) i hope this helps you to see, their is still a place and a purpose for you and your skills, even in this modern age.
