{ Taking back our homes - Living Simply }

 Tasha Tudor

“I enjoy doing housework, ironing, washing, cooking, dishwashing. Whenever I get one of those questionaires and they ask what is your profession, I always put down housewife. It's an admirable profession, why apologize for it. You aren't stupid because you're a housewife. When you're stirring the jam you can read Shakespeare.”
― Tasha Tudor

We live in a day and age where technology is all around us, at our fingertips with just the tap of a finger.  It's there to make things easier, to connect us with everyone and everything and in a sense make life easier, or so they say.

I'm old fashioned though, because I find that the more technology they throw my way, and the more they try to simplify our lives, the harder it actually becomes.  So much so that I start feeling overwhelmed and yearning or days gone by where things were.....simpler.

If we stop and take a look around our lives, it's not just the ease of technology, it is also the fact that we have so much in our lives, materialistically, mentally and commitments.  I've never been one to overdo things, and have actually been one of *those* moms who didn't sign up her children for a myriad of after school activities. 

I've often seen friends feeling completely exhausted as they rush around from one activity to the other, arriving home late in the afternoon and then having to fix a meal, clean the house, and help the children with their homework, which is always quite a lot.

I'm not here to judge, everyone does what they wish with their own lives, but I am here to tell you that all of that running around was not for our family.  We tried it, we didn't like it, it was frustrating and stressful and so we cut it out of our lives.  No one is saying to do nothing, I'm merely saying cut back.

The only things in my life that are essential and will not be diminished on, is family time and God time.

Everything else is easily replaced and removed. 

I've often said that I would love to live back in the pioneer times, and trust me when I tell you that I get such weird looks, including from my own family.  Oh I'm sure some of you reading probably wrinkled your noses too or maybe even scoffed at such a ridiculous statement.

But see, for me, it would have been blissful.  I'm not talking about the diseases, the difficulty of making a homestead, or the hardships that they all went through, though if I had to do it, I would try my best.

I'm talking about their lives at home, the homemakers job and the way that the family functioned within the four wooden walls.

The pioneers had few possessions, no fridge, no dishwashers or clothes washers and dryers.  There were no mops, or McDonald's drive thrus down the street.

They made do, and what they did have was a routine, a schedule and an organized home to ensure that everything worked like clockwork.

It's so easy for us nowadays to eat out if there is no meal prepared.  To quickly throw a load in the washer if you didn't get to the laundry earlier and need something within an hour or two.  To pull fresh milk out of the fridge, or grab a slice of bread out of the bag.

They didn't have convenient processed food.  They had a simple way of doing things.

I'm not going to say that I detest everything we have in our lives today, obviously they have made my life easier in certain areas, but I'm trying very hard to go back to a simpler life.  To not immediately reach for the easiest and quickest way of doing things because as a full time homemaker and mom, I have many hours in the day to get what I need done, to take care of my family and to ensure that there is a hot meal, clean clothes, and a clean cozy home for us all to enjoy.

"The sunshine came streaming through the windows into the house,

and everything was so neat and pretty. The table was covered with a red cloth, and the cookstove was polished shining black."

~ Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House in the Big Woods

We live in an era where homemaking is looked down on.  I've been the recipient of that, and have actually been told a few times that I should really think about getting out there and working, why would I want to depend on a man, I need to be independent and take of myself.  Or I've been told that I'm just a housewife, how hard can it be?

I don't think some understand the value of being a homemaker. 

I take what I do seriously, and I try my very best to always put 100% into my jobs around the house, no matter what they are or how menial they may seem.

I'm trying to get rid of any excess I have in my house.  Do you know that if I had to go back in time to when I first got married, I would have done some things very differently?  One of those is the amount of things we bought or thought we needed in order to live.  I think of all the money we spent on materialistic goods that did nothing to enrich our homes.

So while there are modern amenities that I appreciate and may need for living today, there are others that do nothing but impede a happy life.  It's all a matter of finding that balance and using what is absolutely necessary versus what is enjoyable or a luxury.

I want nothing more than to take back my home, to incorporate some older way of doing things and to not rely so much on all these fancy shmancy modernized ways. 

 After Laura and Mary had washed and wiped the dishes, swept the floor, made their bed, and dusted, they settled down with their books. But the house was so cozy and pretty that Laura kept looking up at it."

~ Laura Ingalls Wilder, On the Banks of Plum Creek

• I would like to do more reading, and less social media.  Instead of reaching for my phone to mindlessly scroll through boring Facebook, I will reach for a book.
• Instead of immediately throwing my clothes into the dryer, if the weather permits, I will hang them out to dry.
• Instead of throwing in a frozen pizza because it's quicker and convenient, I will use the 5 minutes it makes to prepare a homemade dough.
• I haven't had a written down schedule or routine for many years, because I haven't needed one as I pretty much do the same things every day, but I think it's time I look back into it, I think it will help me better make use of my time during the day.
• I will start purging some of the items in the home that are never used, and I am ashamed to admit that I do have a lot of things that are not being used and just sit gaining dust.  
• I am going to start planning my planting for the upcoming months, as I would love to have a gorgeous garden filled with veggies and herbs to use in my cooking.
• I'm going to make a lot more household cleaning mixtures, and try to slowly clear out my store bought cleaning supplies that are filled with chemicals.  Honestly, some are expensive and don't really clean as well as I would like.
• More cooking from scratch and less convenient quick foods on busy days.
• I am going to focus more on the energy we spend and trying to conserve whenever possible.

But above all, I'm going to embrace my job as a homemaker and not allow anyone to make me feel less than.  I take immense pride in my role as a wife, mom and homemaker and everyone in my family knows that full well.

Please do yourselves a favor, don't allow the outside voices to control who you are in your home.  Take back control of your homes, your family, and think about how important your role is in your home, whether you're a full time homemaker, part time, or work outside the home too, it doesn't matter. 

As women we all have a responsibility to our homes and our families, and when we put in 100% of ourselves into it, the rewards are immeasurable. 

I'm ready to take back my home, are you???