I found that consciously choosing the path of the homemaker, especially since I left college in my junior year to do it, was decidedly going against the mainstream current. Four years later I left an upwardly mobile corporate career to start a family, moved from a big city to a ramshackle rural farmhouse that needed lots of work. I had so much pressure to return to the career world, put our first child in daycare, etc. Anything but be a homemaker. I loved my chosen work. It required all the managerial skills of a CEO, all the devotion of a renunciate, all the creativity of a master artist, and so much more. I loved the uniqueness of each day, all the challenges and triumphs. Eventually, family and friends stopped pressuring me to "contribute something useful," "make my mark on the world," and stop "wasting my intelligence." I stand by the my choices. I identify as a homemaker, rather than a housewife. I literally made a home daily, but never married a house. I think your article is inspiring some journaling for me. Thank you!
After 32 years working in schools, I feel grateful to still have the energy to get back to keeping our home clean and welcoming, but still having down time to read wonderful essays such as yours, Sue. Rick and I have always tried to share the household chores, such as cooking, laundry, and grocery shopping, so it has been nice to slip into those routines now that I'm retired. When one of us has to much on their plate, the other works to pick up the slack. Thank you for your reflections, Sue.
Sue, this is a beautiful essay on homemaking and housework. I appreciate how you came to expand the idea of domesticity to mean gardening and plant medicine and so forth. I am in hearty agreement. I too have been angry at the unfair division of labor between the sexes, but I guess I put that out to the universe because my partner now does his half the labor and probably more. He cooks one night, I cook the next. He does his laundry, I do mine. I know that this is not the case in many homes--and that many women have to choose to be unmarried in order to not feel bitter about housework expectations--so I feel very grateful. I really loved this piece. Thank you.
Thank you, Janisse. Some things changed with my new partner. We do our own laundry, and we share some of the cleaning tasks. I still manage most of the food planning and cooking. He's just not into food like I am!
I found that consciously choosing the path of the homemaker, especially since I left college in my junior year to do it, was decidedly going against the mainstream current. Four years later I left an upwardly mobile corporate career to start a family, moved from a big city to a ramshackle rural farmhouse that needed lots of work. I had so much pressure to return to the career world, put our first child in daycare, etc. Anything but be a homemaker. I loved my chosen work. It required all the managerial skills of a CEO, all the devotion of a renunciate, all the creativity of a master artist, and so much more. I loved the uniqueness of each day, all the challenges and triumphs. Eventually, family and friends stopped pressuring me to "contribute something useful," "make my mark on the world," and stop "wasting my intelligence." I stand by the my choices. I identify as a homemaker, rather than a housewife. I literally made a home daily, but never married a house. I think your article is inspiring some journaling for me. Thank you!
After 32 years working in schools, I feel grateful to still have the energy to get back to keeping our home clean and welcoming, but still having down time to read wonderful essays such as yours, Sue. Rick and I have always tried to share the household chores, such as cooking, laundry, and grocery shopping, so it has been nice to slip into those routines now that I'm retired. When one of us has to much on their plate, the other works to pick up the slack. Thank you for your reflections, Sue.
I am in a more equal place of sharing these days! Thank you for your comment.
Sue, this is a beautiful essay on homemaking and housework. I appreciate how you came to expand the idea of domesticity to mean gardening and plant medicine and so forth. I am in hearty agreement. I too have been angry at the unfair division of labor between the sexes, but I guess I put that out to the universe because my partner now does his half the labor and probably more. He cooks one night, I cook the next. He does his laundry, I do mine. I know that this is not the case in many homes--and that many women have to choose to be unmarried in order to not feel bitter about housework expectations--so I feel very grateful. I really loved this piece. Thank you.
Thank you, Janisse. Some things changed with my new partner. We do our own laundry, and we share some of the cleaning tasks. I still manage most of the food planning and cooking. He's just not into food like I am!