Studying Housewifery

So I realized that I'm studying how to be a housewife, and I find that mildly disturbing and mostly amusing.

For most things in my life, I refer to books. Whether it's something that sparked my interest or something I don't know how to handle or when I need to make a big decision - I go to books and study the subject as a way to sort out my thoughts around it.

It was when I checked out a book on housecleaning from the local library that I realized I was doing the same thing with the housewife thing. First, there were the cooking books. Then, the parenting books, and, lastly, now the housecleaning books.

But, I am not ashamed. They have all been a huge help! I love it. There is so much to learn about. I figured that these are things that a person should know how to do, and so if you don't know how to do it, there's nothing you can do to help your situation. But, today, there's information on how to do everything so why not on how to be a housewife! If I wasn't taught how to be a housewife by my mom, it's not my fault. And, why, she didn't teach me things I don't know. She's just not that way. But, I wish she did.

I remember my birthmother remarking how amazing it was when she showed her stepson how to clean. She was always frustrated when she asked him to clean because he did a bad job of it. It took her awhile, but she finally figured out she had to teach him how to do it. It seems obvious to me, but I guess it's not. All things are taught whether directly or indirectly.

So, these are a few gems I found in the Housewifery canon:

Cooking

• Cooking Light Magazine (always has quick recipes that are healthy. though i modify most of them. some are a little too from scratch. also great online resource)
• Rachel Ray's Magazine. What I like is that she'll give you a menu for the whole week along with a shopping list. That was a stroke of brilliance.

Parenting

• Love and Logic. Brilliant. How to discipline in a very calm way that's effective. The biggest part was it changes you from yelling and fighting to simple consequences.
• Supernanny. Yes, Supernanny is great. She has so many things that are helpful - schedule, consequences, tone of voice, playing with the kids, being united with your partner. I just wish she had it all written down in a book - hey - maybe she does. Duh! Of course she does. OK, just ordered it from the library.

Housecleaning

• No Hassle Housecleaning. This is a book from a blog (what book isn't starting as a blog these days?). The blog was from the "Happy Slob" and I relate to the author instantly. She isn't happy about housecleaning, so she figured out how to do it at the most minimal effective level so that you can back to your life. I liked that a lot. Plus, she is very much on the side of natural ingredients without preaching it, so that lines up with me too.

We'll see how the housecleaning reform goes. It's the last of the big three that I've listed. I feel like I have pretty firm footing on the other two. But housecleaning just isn't my thing. Even when I had all day to clean up the house when our daycare provider was coming for a "home visit," I just couldn't pull it together. I get distracted. I get overwhelmed. I realized that day that I'm not good at it and I need help. It was the first time I could laugh with my husband at my being bad at it and not feel guilty about it. Because the biggest part is simply that I don't know HOW to do it. I'm hoping the book will change that. And change me. We'll see.