Homemaking 101: A basic overview
It’s been over a decade since my husband and I started living on our own. When we first moved out I had no idea how to take care of my home. I had no idea how to manage schedules or manage bills. I definitely didn’t know how to cook, and I knew how to clean but I didn’t know how to deep clean or anything like that.
Needless to say, the first couple of years out on my own were pretty difficult. I didn’t even start meal planning until the 4th year. I remember constantly going grocery shopping and still needing food a couple of days later. It was a mess. In this blog post I’m going to talk all about homemaking.
What is homemaking?
Homemaking is just another way to describe home management. Typically the term homemaker describes someone who does not work outside of the home, but it’s 2021 and homemaking is just as important and valuable even if you do work outside of the home. You can still be an excellent homemaker even if you work outside of the home.
A homemaker oversees the day to day operations of the home. This includes but is not limited to
- Cooking
- Cleaning
- Errands
- Grocery shopping
- Laundry
- Decorating
- Organizing schedules
- Caring for pets
- Managing family time
- Caring for children
Why is homemaking important?
I can say that I am able to honestly answer this after learning the hard way that Homemaking is important for a number of reasons. Your home is your safe space. It’s a place where you grow, love, and nourish yourself. Homemaking is important because knowing how to take proper care of your home helps create a happy, healthy, peaceful life for you and your family.
What you should know
A couple things to note about homemaking
It doesn’t have to be miserable. I have come to love cooking and cleaning because I have found a way to pass the time and keep me interested. I do this by using audiobooks. I fell in love with reading in 2020 when the pandemic first started and now it’s rare for a day to go by without me reading something. Before I became addicted to reading I would listen to music on or watch tv on my phone while I did the dishes or folded laundry. I don’t hate cleaning and caring for my house. In fact, I always say I love cleaning my house because I love when my house is clean.
It’s okay if your house isn’t perfect.
Sometimes when my energy levels are low and I have absolutely no desire to clean, simply do not clean. Of course I would clean if I were having company or if my house was in really bad shape, but if my sink is full of dishes and my body is telling me that I need to rest, I rest. I have a husband and kids, so my sink is always full of dishes. My house always gets cluttered right after I clean it up and that is normal. We are making memories here and it’s a beautiful thing.
Making a cleaning schedule will change your life.
I don’t know how I survived before having a proper cleaning schedule. Now that I have one, I will never go back. Creating a schedule takes all the pressure off of me to clean the house every day. Normally I will have chores that are to be done daily like the dishes, but I clean the bathroom every Monday, and do laundry every Thursday. I have specific days for chores so I never have to do it all in one day. This eliminates overwhelms and makes each chore easily doable.
Cooking is the most fun part of homemaking.
I’m obsessed with good food (as I’m sure most of us are) but It took me a very long time before I learned how to cook. I wasn’t interested in cooking for many years after I started living on my own. I figured it was too time consuming and I didn’t even know where to start. As my kids got older I realized they needed better quality meals. That is when I started trying out different recipes.
Guess what?
It wasn’t as hard as I thought! It was actually a lot of fun and I love trying new recipes. I usually go for recipes that are impossible to ruin, but after I got used to cooking I started trying different kinds of recipes. Last year I made my own pasta from scratch. This is something I never thought I would do.
The bottom line
Homemaking is important for your well being and creating a happy, healthy place for you and your family. It is also a great way for you to unleash your creative side with decorating and making the house a home. It is not for people who are stay at home parents, homemaking is for anyone who has a home. It doesn’t have to be overwhelming and it’s okay to make mistakes and fall behind. We are human and are not perfect all the time. And that is perfectly okay.
