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| Pink Flowers on the Table at Mrs. White's Home |
I do not have a maid to help me keep house. There is no staff of workers to cook, bake, clean, decorate, and organize. There is no accountant to keep the finances in order. I do not have a hostess to welcome and care for guests and residents here at our Estate. Groceries are not delivered. The shopping and errands and the management of the entire household is not completed by a head - housekeeper. Most homemakers do all of these things, and much more. They do it alone.
There is a way to do these things, in a gentle, gracious way. I will share with you just two common ideas. They are basic and ordinary, but can make all the difference:
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1. Keep a Weekly Schedule.
If you do the shopping on Wednesday (for example), the heavy cleaning on Thursday, the Laundry on Friday, etc. You will not be trying to do it all in one day. If some emergency happens, or you are not feeling well, you can just do the basics and not worry about it.
If I am going to bake homemade bread on Tuesday, I will not go out on errands. That would be too much of a drain on my energy. If I am going to deep clean the house on Thursday, I will not make homemade pizza. We have to balance the heavy and light work for each day. This is part of pacing ourselves to do the many different tasks in a day.
2. Keep a Daily routine.
I believe the most time consuming work, each day, happens in the kitchen! Pace yourself to have the energy and the peace to prepare these meals. (If you have children who are old enough to help you, all the better! It is a joyful time to prepare and serve food with the family's help.)
There are three meals prepared and served each day. Many homemakers provide the family with easy food for breakfast and lunch. The main meal of the day is often served at the dinner hour. It is the old, traditional "supper time," where all the family is home together for the evening meal. This will vary in each home, depending on the family schedule. For example: If Dad works the night shift, perhaps the family enjoys a big breakfast or lunch together.
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If we kept a daily journal of all the things we do in a day, it would make us tired! Yet in the midst of all the work, we can have many moments of laughter, tea breaks, walks about the garden, times for reading and resting, and just enjoying family visits in the parlour. We can learn, through practice, to do all the work of "keeping house" in a gentle way, by avoiding stress, rush, worry, and fear.
Think on that which is good, and pretty, and pleasant. Focus on the beauty around us. Be grateful. Be courageous when you are weary. Rest as often as necessary. Pace yourself with little simple jobs, with plenty of tea breaks, seeking contentment and joy in home life.
Blessings
Mrs. White
From the Archives -
Inspiration from the Mother of D.L. Moody - Poverty in the 1800's.
Precious Manners with Children - Tea Time: The Importance of Formal Ceremony at Home.
Practical Help - The Secret to a Happy Home.
Mrs. White's special book for homemakers:"Introduction to Home Economics: Gentle Instruction to Find Joy in Christian Homemaking." Paperback, 200 pages.
- To find out more about this blog, or Mrs. White, please visit our About page. -
17 comments:
Hello from Kansas.
Very good post.
I can identify.
God is with us,
d
I agree with what you said, pacing ourselves is important if we want to enjoy it all.
Good morning Mrs. White,
I so enjoy reading your homemaking tips.
Thank you for writing with so much encouragement.
I don’t have any staff that helps me either, except for my very appreciated appliances. :)
Thank you for this encouraging post dear Mrs. White. Just what I needed to read.
Thank you so much, Mrs. White, for stopping by my blog today. I'm so glad for the chance to 'meet' you and from my first read of your latest post, I'm so glad to connect.
I, too, find doing one big errand of a day is enough. As you say, we do need the balance of the heavy and light work for each day.
Wishing you glimpses of heaven in unexpected places,
Brenda
I do agree with both you, and Brenda (whom I am fortunate to have met), one thing a day is enough. It is so important to keep a reserve of energy. As you say, if we wrote down all the things we do in a day it would be surprising!
I do now have a lady who comes once a week to help me clean and I am grateful for her.
HI MRS.WHITE: LAS TAREAS DEL HOGAR SUELEN SER AGOTADORAS A VECES, PARA MI SIEMPRE TENGO MUCHO TRABAJO, HE TENIDO 9 HIJOS Y CUANDO TODOS ERAN PEQUEÑOS, TENIA TONELADAS DE ROPA QUE LAVAR, PLANCHAR, CANTIDADES ENORMES DE COMIDA ECT, ERAMOS 11 CONMIGO Y MI ESPOSO, WOW QUE EPOCAS, CLARO ERAMOS MAS JOVENES Y MAS VITALES, HACIA MUCHAS COSAS Y NO ME CANSABA, HOY TENGO 59 AÑOS, MISA NIÑOS HAN CRECIDO Y 6 DEJARON EL NIDO PARA FORMAR SU PROPIA FAMILIA, TENGO 10 NIETOS Y TODAVIA TENGO 3 HIJOS EN CASA SOLTEROS Y 3 NIÑOS DISCAPACITADOS QUE ADOPTAMOS JUNTO A MI ESPOSO, SIGO LAVANDO Y COCINANDO MUCHO, PERO EN OTRO RITMO, LO QUE NO HAGO HOY, LO HAGO MAÑANA, NO TENGO APURO Y MI ESPOSO SIGUE FIEL AL LADO MIO. BENDICIONES HERMANA EN CRISTO, TU BLOG ES INSPIRADOR. ¿PUEDE PASAR POR MI BLOG Y DEJAR UN COMENTARIO? SERIA MUY AMABLE DE SU PARTE.
Oh I so hear you, I do the same. One big thing a day! : ) I try to cook my family dinner in the morning hours so in the afternoon I can relax so to speak and enjoy a little sewing etc. One thing that has helped me is grabbing items when out with my husband so I'm not so burdened with huge shopping hauls on my own. I also order many dry goods from walmart.com so that too eliminates a trip to another store, it's easy to get free shipping too and I have the luxury of items delivered to me.
I can't tell you how refreshing it is to come read another wife and mom's homemaking tips and fellowship in the blogsphere. In this day and time many are running-running-running.
Take care now! ~Amelia
Excellent ideas! Common sense, and yet so many times we do not use common sense and pace ourselves. I'm learning that more and more as time goes on. I am also trying to balance "sitting" tasks with ones where I get up and move around. It really makes a difference!
I don't have staff either, but sometimes have dreamed of it! ;)
We have had a laundry schedule and a 4 week rotating chore list for decades here. I sit down and make a daily list of everything that needs to get done on Sunday afternoon each week. I aso plan the weekly menus and since I have the chore list and any appointments already listed on the daily list I can see where I need to plan easy meals. My husband is retired and so we work together on the list each day. He is a huge blessing and help to me.
We do not have groceries delivered but I am so thankful for that option and technology to allow me to order for my parents. I am 500 miles from them but Mom and I get on the phone and place her order every few weeks and it is delivered to her within hours and even carried into her kitchen. She can no longer manage going to the store and getting everything into the house so it is worth the fees to have it done for them.
Hi~ coming to you from Nashville TN, located you from Rue's blog. I also don't have a maid, or a cook, or someone to do my laundry and keeping house is the pits!!! I used to have such a clean house when my kids were little and it should have been messy to a not so clean house with just me and my furbabes....however the difference now is a suffer from a chronic illness that I did not have back then. Its not easy to just continue to pick up after just me. But I do what I can. I agree, having set plans and routines help a lot.
When I lived in Korea, I actually had a housekeeper, and that lady was worth her weight in gold. She kept my apartment clean, laundry done--you name it, she did it. Nowadays I am my own housekeeper, and I love it. When you spoke of most of the work being done in the kitchen, I whole heartedly agreed. I spend more time in the kitchen/dining room than any other place in the house. I recently began learning about a special diet for my adult son with special needs, and once I get that up and running, I will spend even more time in my beloved kitchen 'kingdom'. God bless you, dear lady, take care.
A very sensible approach to housework. I have very bad health and cannot do routines anymore. Some days I have to stay in bed, others I am up doing some housework. I miss routines, I used to find them helpful. I do however still try to break the jobs up, make lists and tick off as things get done. Next on my list is to clean the oven fan. Don't know when it will get done, but when I'm well enough, I will be able to cross it off on my list. A nice feeling. Blessings, Pam in Norway
Such a good reminder and encrouagement! I've actually come back to read your post a few times--as a homeschooling mommy of 5 (ages 7 and under), morning sick with my sixth baby, I really need to work on pacing myself and focusing on the joy and beauty of this lifestyle I've been blessed with, and not the hard parts!
Thank you so much for your beautiful writing--you're such an encouragment! A true example of 'older women teaching the younger'!
I so enjoyed reading what you are all doing in your homes to keep house. It is so encouraging to us all to read the different things we are doing for our families.
Thank you!
Dear Mrs White, I enjoyed this post so much. You have made some excellent points in pacing oneself with chronic illness. It is so important to do this, or we will suffer the consequences later. Blessings, Glenys
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