Homemaking

There has been a "Homemakers Tag" going on over on YouTube. I've listened to a variety of vloggers answering twenty questions about homemaking. 

Some are thrilled to be homemakers and intentionally make that their vocation, before they ever marry. They tell their boyfriends to pack their bags if they can't support that vocation. 

Others come into homemaking by a different route. They realize they will be missing out on their children's lives if they are away working. And/or they start a home business.

Some study homemaking intensely to figure out the best way to do this. Some are simply overwhelmed by it and do as little as they can to keep house.

One young mother kept saying, "Homemaking. Oh, that's such a funny word. It seems so antiquated."

Another young wife who was not yet a mother kept apologizing for her "opinions" about homemaking. She didn't want to offend anyone because she believes strongly that her place is at home. 

An older mother who was nearly an empty nester spoke passionately, expressing the fact that she has no regrets for being there for her family all these years. 

I am blessed to have grown up with homemaking skills ingrained in me. At ten years of age I could run a household. Of course not the financial end of it, and of course not like a pro. But I knew how to cook, clean, do laundry, care for babies, milk the cow, mow the lawn, help with gardening, canning, and etc. 

My friend and I were discussing the phenomena among young people today, where they are bored. I was never bored in my life that I can remember. She wasn't either. We both had so little play time that it was precious.

The primary goal for children today is to "educate" them. in other words, do everything so they can get book learning in an institution. (And no, mom, you're not nearly smart enough to educate your child. It must be done by professionals.)

But the results are appalling. Young people grow up with a book education that does not equal "home" education. They have no clue how to run a household or care for children. Mom always did that. (Or didn't. This has been happening for generations.)

Many, many women in our world today do not know how to cook or how to survive on one income. There is a cry for help in these areas. So there are Home Ec classes in school.

A sixteen year old girl showed us a quilt top she made at school and one mother expressed herself that she is so pleased that they have classes like that at school. It seems we have totally forgotten that this is a mother's responsibility at home.

Most of society looks down on a woman who fulfills her role at home. Not to mention that most young ladies don't want to stay home. They really need to "have a life"!

Boys are also neglected by focusing on intellectual education above entrepreneurship and learning how to provide for a family. They have "shop classes" at school instead of learning trades from their fathers or being apprentices. I read recently how a business was fined big money for allowing 16 yr old young men to run power equipment.

The business owner will pay his fine to the government. If these young men grow up with this type of "protection" mentality, instead of learning a trade, they will become the men who get that money back from the government either in welfare money or prison costs. Sad, sad world!

Don't misunderstand me. Children need book learning. But more than that, YES, More than that! they need to be trained in how to work in the real world. To run households. To earn income. To be entrepreneurs. 

IQ (Intelligence quotient) does not equal CQ (Creative quotient). Book learning in institutions (schools if you will) stifles creativity. By the time a child graduates traditional school, he is floundering in the real world, with no creative juices left.

Someone has been telling him most of his life, what to think next, how to fill in the blanks, what is important to know for the test. And his mind is dull to all that there really is to know and experience. It's like he has a rude awakening and needs to start all over.

Oh, how did I get so sidetracked from my topic? Or did I? I don't know. 

I'll try to answer the homemaker's questions tomorrow.

Today I am thankful for...
...a broom. 
...toilet paper. (It isn't fun getting caught in the bathroom with an empty roll!)
...the backspace key.