I want to do an experiment. I want to spend one day, keeping a journal of exactly how much time I spend on homemaking tasks, like cooking, cleaning and laundry. I want to know how much time I waste in idleness. I want to know how much time it takes to do each and every task so I can see what a true slacker I really am.
Yesterday, I put off doing the dishes until later in the day. The house did not look as nice as I would have liked and I skipped my baking plans. Why? Because I didn't feel like doing any of it. Here's the problem - not working, based on a mood or emotion is not acceptable.
Imagine if my husband had that attitude at his job? He would quickly get fired. I cannot believe I don't work half as hard as he does!
What we need is some real old fashioned home economics in our homes. We need to live up to the honored word of "homemaker" or "housewife" and take pride in our hard work!
Today, instead of rushing around in mindless pursuits, I am going to carefully focus on home. I am going to enjoy organizing the laundry room, and washing the dishes. I am going to vacuum and wash the kitchen floor. I am going to have something baking in the oven while I iron. And yes, I will iron something whether or not it is necessary, just so I can get my heart right. It will be rewarding and wonderful.
And all this will be recorded in a little book. So at the end of the day, I can see what was accomplished and how much time it took. Then I will read it over and feel a sense of pride, and relief, that I truly was worthy to be called "homemaker."
Blessings
Mrs. White
From the Archives -
When was the last time you had a formal - Breakfast at Home?
Getting up early helps with Early Morning Housekeeping.
Very Precious - The Parlour on Sunday Morning.
- To find out more about this blog, or Mrs. White, please visit our About page. -
Mrs. White's nostalgic book for Mothers:
"Old Fashioned Motherhood: Baby and Child Care Advice from a New England Housewife."
62 pages, paperback.
10 comments:
You are so right. If our husbands did that, they wouldn't have a job for long.
Great post and def something to ponder.
Very true!! What a wonderful post. I really enjoy your blog and so love reading about how thinga have changed within your own self with the children leaving the home. I set and wonder myself how it will feel to have an empty nest or even just 3 or 4 children living in the home. As a mother of 9 and 8 in the house I know I have a ways to go but I know that will be reality someday before I know it. Thank you and blessings, Dawn
You make some very good points...I'm off to my work now! xo
LOL that actually made me want to get up and do the sweeping. Just had to post this first-more procrastination!
Thanks :)
Mrs White-
I was just thinking this same thing yesterday! In the Navy we would do a "time study" every year. We were given sheets of paper that has spaces for every fifteen minutes and we were to write down what we were doing every fifteen minutes on our shift. It was VERY eye-opening! And I was very conscious of how valuable time was! Thank you for a wonderfully encouraging blog! Blessings to you and your beautiful family! Jennifer in IA
thanks i needed to read that. would love to hear your results:)
becky
Timely post. I have been tracking my time for the last two months now (not perfectly) and it has been such a good awareness exercise. I have been a procrastinator and a rationalizer for such a long time and I have been trying to break free from these bad habits and total time sinkers. Time tracking and weekly review of my progress (or lack of there of) are making me confront these habits that are so deeply rooted in me. I am making a very slow process toward becoming more of effective mommy and homemaker and toward being present in everything that I do. Thank you for your blog. I love it!
I have often thought of recording my time expenditure for a day, but I'm too afraid of feeling guilty about the results. :)
Although, at this point in my life, with six young children I simply cannot afford to waste that much time. I am forced to be efficient whether I would otherwise be or not. So that's good. Thanks Mrs. White. :)
Okay, you got me -- this post was definitely what I needed to hear.. the rain of the past few days has totally zapped my "get up and at 'em" but that's no excuse. Off to do the laundry :-)
I'm a little late commenting on this post, but it was recommended at the end of today's so I skipped over to it, and here I am.
This is post is so true! I love the idea of tracking my time for a few days or so and seeing just how productive I really am.
Thanks for the inspiration!
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