What is being a homemaker really? Am I the cook and the maid? Do I spend all my days running here and there, playing taxi for everybody? Am I the servant, the slave? Pretty much yes, and no.
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Let us start with the first question: am I the cook. The answer to that is yes, I spend a majority of my day preparing, serving and cleaning up food, so yeah I am the cook. I am also so much more. I nourish my family, it is up to me to prepare nutritious food, to purchase it, prepare it and serve it. My children and husband’s diet depends on what I put in front of them. Am I just throwing quick food in front of them, or do I take the time to prepare nutritious, delicious meals that not only fill their bellies but their souls too? Do they see the love I put into their meals, or do they see me hurried, tired, and not bothered?
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Am I the maid? Well, I do the majority of the cleaning and what I am not cleaning I am supervising the cleaning of. So I guess I am the maid. I also keep my home in order, so my family can have a place that feels peaceful to come to. I provide the harbor in the storm of life. I set the tone and the mood for the house. If My Partner in Crime comes home from a long day and a long drive he will feel so much more relaxed coming into a house that is in order, clean, tidy (as much as it can be with 5 kids!). Can he sit in a chair without having to clear it of toys and laundry first? Can he clear his head in the midst of a mess? When he is happy and relaxed, the whole family is. So yes, I am the maid.
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Am I a taxi service? Yes, in a very limited capacity. I know a lot of mom’s that spend hours in the car driving their kids here and there. I
refuse to do that. I do not think it is conducive to a happy, smoothly run house hold. If I am in the car all the time then I do not have the time to cook, my family ends up eating fast food too much. If I am in the car all evening who is home to greet my husband? A hurried wife, who is tired, hungry and behind. I think kids are way too scheduled. They don’t need to participate in every activity out there. My older girls take piano lessons, and that is it. If they wanted to do something else, that would be fine, but they only get one thing. Kids benefit from free play time, time to just unwind and let their imaginations sore. So yea, I am sort of the taxi, sort of. -
Am I a slave? A servant? No, because I am not forced to do this. It is my life’s work, my love and my passion. I haven’t always felt this way. I still have my days that I feel invisible, over worked and tired. I decided that I was going to change my attitude; I was going to love my job that has made all the difference in the world. I want my family to look at their home as an oasis; I want friends to sit in my living room and wish to stay forever. I want to make life beautiful for my family, for my husband. Only I can do this, I am the wife and the mother, I am a woman and God has given these special gifts to me. I need to use them how he would have me. I need to beautify our life.
