I don’t think my childhood and high school friends would have ever guessed that I’d turn out to be so domestic. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I would have guessed it. My mom had me take sewing lessons and I didn’t really catch on very well. I learned to crochet a little but never went anywhere with it. I took a couple cooking classes in high school but they didn’t inspire me all that much. I was generally uninterested in anything of that nature. I was, by no means, domestic by nature from the beginning.
To be honest with you, I’m not even sure when it happened. It wasn’t overnight or a moment of awakening for me. When I got married I didn’t really know how to cook much of anything. I called my mother over and over, asking her how to do the simplest tasks. I began to borrow her sewing machine to hem my pants. We had a baby and I realized I should learn to make more meals and wondered if it would be possible to make some of her clothes myself. I began to think about the world she’d grow up in and what I was doing to help or harm it.
Somewhere between then and now, over six years later, I’ve changed, a LOT. It’s been a gradual process of learning; trying and failing; trying and succeeding; becoming aware and creative and developing into a person that I genuinely like being. It’s not that I didn’t like who I was before. I’ve always been reasonably content with who I am but as I’ve grown and learned and become this environmentally aware, domestic Mama, I’ve really grown to love who I am. I hope you don’t think I sound conceited. I’m sorry if it comes across that way because that’s not my intention here. I just think there’s so much value in liking who you are and how you live.
I’ve learned to align my lifestyle with my values, my goals and my priorities. In doing that, it’s made the trivial things that seemed so imperative before just gradually fade out of my sight and caused me to develop into what I had no idea that I wanted to be. I think this could look so very different for every person. Aligning your lifestyle with the things that truly matter to you may not include becoming domestic all for you. I think the point is that you are becoming a person that you enjoy being and that your life is working toward things that genuinely matter to you.
These days I make all of our bread by hand and cook all of our meals from scratch. I line-dry my clothes, use reusable shopping bags, cloth napkins and waste as little as possible. I sew a lot and create many things by hand. I’m decreasing harmful chemicals in my home in favor of all-natural and hoping to expand my grocery budget to include more and more organic items. I have a garden and I’m learning to can. All of this is so different than the girl I used to be and I like it. I can’t wait to see where I’ll be 10 years from now.
Why I do what I do ~ My niece just told me that her blanket smells pink. Apparently pink doesn’t smell very good.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
How wonderful! There is something in serving your family.
At Easter dinner this year, my mom said, “Angie, I would have never thought you would be such a little housekeeper.” Things change don’t they?
I used to call it housework, but now I refer to it as homemaking. It’s noble thing.
Angie’s last blog post..The Next Step
What a wonderful example of how God fulfills the desires of our hearts… the stuff we never even realized that we’d love or enjoy so much!
Thanks for sharing with us!
netta’s last blog post..My Fake I.D.
I never thought I’d be a happy SAHM but over the last couple of months I have realized that I like it. I haven’t quite found my ‘grove’ yet but I’m working on it.
Like you I’m cooking more meals from scratch, line drying our laundry, reducing the chemical cleaners and I’ve stopped buying baked goods (make them all at home). Even just 6 months ago I would have said that I’m not the SAHM type….who knew????
Good post by the way.
Great post. This is exactly what I wanted to articulate to my dad recently. Good timing too, I needed the reinforcement that this is the choice I made and I like who I was and really like who I am.
Liz’s last blog post..A list anyone?
I think there’s something in our heads that gets switched on when having kids. Ever since I had kids, my life has made huge changes. I started caring about the planet, the future, all stuff that never made much difference to me when I was younger.
Great post!
Super Mega Dad’s last blog post..I Don’t Know
I love this post!!
Peggy’s last blog post..honest labour
I’ve been reading my way through your blog over the last week and I’ve enjoyed it so much, but this post really struck a chord with me. I was blessed to have a SAHM for a mother, but I never wanted that for myself. God has changed my heart so much over the last few years and now just being a stay-at-home wife and mother is my biggest desire. I love finding ways to save money and run our home more efficiently. I work FT now because we have not had children yet, but we are preparing financially so that when that day comes, I will gladly leave the workforce.