So You Call Yourself a Homemaker

Homemaker, not home-WRECKER.  BWHAHAHAHA!

But seriously, how many people actually refer to themselves this way anymore?  Slim to none, am I right?  A mere half century ago and pretty much all Wives and Mothers were homemakers.  Crazy how fast times can really change!

While I most definitely consider myself to be a homemaker, I do not typically refer to myself this way.  At least out loud.....I can just imagine the horrified stares of all the "liberated" women now.  Hmm...I wonder what would happen if I threw caution to the wind and just called myself a housewife instead?  Ha!  Blasphemy I'm sure!

In the interest of fun, I've put together a little list to help you sort yourselves out.  You're welcome!

You Might Be a Homemaker If:

• You post things to Facebook such as, "how do I get the yellow stains out of my pillows?" and "feels SO good to steam clean the carpets, 2 months is far too long!"
• Menu planning is your idea of fun.
• All your closets are color coded and arranged by season.
• You make your husband's lunch for him, many times the night before so it will be ready when he needs to leave for work.
• You wonder if you can vacuum the lint/dust off the vacuum cleaner.  Then laugh because you think vacuuming the vacuum is hysterical.  Because yeah...it kinda is....
• Coffee is your drug of choice.
• Your home is on a cleaning schedule.  Mondays are for laundry, Tuesdays are for bathrooms, Wednesdays are....
• You can bake a cake.  From scratch.
• You're pretty sure you should invest in a laminator.
• You have a day of the week for grocery shopping.  Usually the day when the new sales come out or the day where they markdown items.
• You wouldn't dare go out in public without makeup on!
• You iron your curtains.
• You have the cleanest refrigerator of anyone you know.  Since you clean it every week, that baby sparkles!
• Your Pinterist is full of cleaning tips and DIY projects.
• Stuff on your kitchen counter is your arch nemesis.
• You actually wash and clean your shoes.  And your family's shoes. 
• Your dining room table is always ready for the next meal & you actually light the candles & turn on music for dinner with the family. 
• You have neatly labeled tote bins for all your holiday supplies.  Broken down by specific holiday of course.
• Lists are your favorite thing in the whole wide world!
• When someone in your house gets sick, you whip up a batch of your homemade chicken noodle soup and then disinfect the crap out of everything.
• You hate clutter.
• Anyone has ever made fun of you and compared you to "Martha".

Alright- so this was all in fun but seriously- taking care of your home used to be celebrated.  Sadly, now it's almost as if it's no longer socially acceptable to be a Wife, a Mother and most of all- a Homemaker.  While I've personally never been too concerned with what other people think of me, I am just a bit sad to think that our next generation will be growing up without an understanding of this art form.  Because you guys- being a wonderful homemaker is indeed an art.  It's something worth cherishing and celebrating and hopefully it will continue to be passed down to the next generation of Wives and Mothers.

Want to read more?

• Marriage- A Traditional Housewife
• Guidelines in the Running of Your Home
• On Being a Traditional Wife
• Marriage-The Good Wife's Guide

Keeping an Organized Pantry

Keeping a neat and tidy home should be the goal for all Wives.

Something that is essential to me in the keeping of my own home is making sure my kitchen and pantry are organized.  I spend a ton of time cooking and laboring over homemade meals- I need to be able to find shit!  And let's face it- keeping an organized pantry saves you time and money.  Plain and simple.

I'm the first to admit that my pantry isn't fabulous but it works.  I am also battling a super small 1980's kitchen.  Did these people NOT eat?!?  Why so little storage space?  So my solution was to buy a pantry and stick it in my living room.  Ugh....I know...I know...

My Spice Drawer

Even with my extra pantry, which is really just a cabinet with 3 shelves, I still don't have enough room.  So I keep all my baking supplies in one cupboard in my kitchen and my spices go in a drawer near my oven where I can reach them easily while cooking.  As you can tell from the photo the left- it's a bit of a mess.  Is that a cell phone charger in there?!?  Chapstick?  Cash?!?

The goal to keeping an organized pantry is to have your items visible and easily accessible.  I also suggest stocking up when things are on sale and rotating your items so nothing expires.  This ensures you will always get a good price and always have that item available in your home.

My Pantry

Here's a peak at my pantry.  Full disclosure- I did NOT organize it before taking a photo.  It always looks this way- organized chaos I like to call it. Unless of course my son has been "helping" me unload groceries.  In that case, it's a mess.

You can see that my cans are lined up, forward facing by item.  This allows me to know when I'm running low on something.  Which BTW- see that empty space between the Pinto Beans & Black Beans?  That's where my Kidney Beans should go.  I totally ran out and the store I usually buy my organic Kidney Beans at has not had them in stock during my last 2 visits.  Oops!

I keep items that are currently being used towards the front of the pantry and simply place the extras behind them.  For example, the cereal boxes & crackers on the top left are lined up with the name of the item facing forward.  The unopened extra boxes are directly behind it.  So when we finish the item, I toss it and move the one behind up to the front.  Then I put that item on my grocery list so I can by a replacement & restock.  Make sense?

The Box

Sometimes I find a really good sale.  Like on the Cascadian Farms Purely O's cereal.  We don't usually have so many of them but I found them on sale for $.99 per box.  That's a savings of over $3!!!!  So you better believe I bought as many boxes as I could!  The additional extras were then placed at the bottom of my cabinet pantry, usually behind the cardboard box.  This is where I store all my items that I have stocked up on.

Keeping yourself organized does not have to cost you a buttload of money.  There is NO reason for you to

The Snack Basket

run out and buy fancy boxes, baskets and organizers.  I use a large cardboard box to store my extra plastic wraps, foils, ziploc baggies, extra bags of lentils & barley, extra dog treats, hot chocolate mixes, tea bags and yes, even my coffee filters.  I also have an old basket that I pulled the broken handle off of and I keep my snack foods in here.

Potatoes, extra paper napkins, larger sized items and my recipe book all go down on the bottom shelf on the right.

The big green bowl belongs to my son- he puts his candy from Christmas, Easter & Halloween in here.  There's also a package of Oreo's that he got after a soccer game & a can of Pringles in there.  Yuck!  This is his treat bowl.  I bought it on clearance after Halloween many, many years ago and it works great!  When he has earned a reward or treat, he's allowed to pick something out of this bowl.  And if I'm honest- most times after a meal he can grab a small piece of candy.  Don't tell him- but every month or so, I weed through his bowl and throw stuff out.  Shhh....

So there you have it.  A glimpse into my somewhat OCD life.  If you don't already have an organized pantry or some system in place- I highly recommend you work on it.  Get creative and use things you see around the house, improvise!  You can do it!