Homemaking - My Continuing Education Plan

Okay, I’m back with a delayed start to my New Year.  We put our 12 ½ year black lab to sleep on January 2^nd.  We were with her when she died.  It was beautiful, she was given the meds and she put her head down on her paws and went to sleep.  That was that.  It was a beautiful end to the life of a wonderful companion that brought us much joy.

Now on to a more upbeat topic – my plan for the year.  I posted this week that I had subscribed to some homemaking lessons back in 2008 and I had never really put them to the test.  In fact, at one point I had forgotten about them.  This is the year that I pull it together.  This is the year that I work on my skills to becoming the homemaker that I want to be.  Now, what does that mean to me? 

I have always thought of myself as a traditional homemaker wannabe, with some modern girl twists.  I want to sew everything that I can, clean my home til it sparkles, bake bread and have a garden.  This all appeals to me just as much as shopping at the mall would appeal to many women.  So what was holding me back from going for it when I was done working?  I find it hard to answer that question but when I searched within myself for the answer I came up with this.  I have been too busy taking care of everybody else to concentrate on what my goals were for our home and my true passion for being a homemaker AND (this is the biggest one) – I get side tracked pretty easy.

Does this sound familiar to all of you?  We put everyone ahead of ourselves and we never get around to doing the things that bring us joy.  Yes joy.  Sewing and keeping a neat, organized and almost clean house would bring me joy.  In fact it makes me feel a little giddy.  Having someone stop by and be welcomed into a homey, clean and almost neat house would bring me joy.  I am looking towards the eras of homemaking in the 1930’s through the 1950’s as inspiration.  This is what I mean by being a traditional homemaker wannabe.  And as to the modern girl twist – I plan to use modern day gadgets to help me get the job done. 

And as to the side tracked problem – one phone call could derail my day.  Yep, it’s true.  One call from church could send me into a whole different direction and before I knew it, I had accomplished nothing for the entire day.

I have close to 36 lessons in pdf file format that came with my subscription to the Homemaker’s Mentor.  These subscriptions were gift subscriptions from my husband.  Now, he didn’t go out there and buy these for me on his own – I asked for them.  I had to keep saying – yes, this is what I really want for Christmas or for my birthday or for Mother’s day. 

Why these lessons?  They inspire me and they are immensely detailed. These lessons are true mentoring lessons.  I plan to follow these lessons as they will give me the direction that I need towards my homemaking goal.    

In the work place many professionals such as doctors, lawyers and accountants are required to take continuing education courses every year in order to keep their licenses.  I consider these lessons as my homemaking continuing education courses.  Why shouldn’t homemaking be put at the professional level that other occupations are?  Why don’t we value homemaking when we all enjoy a clean home, good food and beautiful home crafted handiworks?

Here is a long list of most of those homemaking lessons (continuing education classes):

Kitchen Sparkle – Deep cleaning your kitchen

Making curtains

Cakes from scratch

Machine sewing

Starting a garden from scratch

Bathroom basics

Embroidery

Knitting with Frames

The Medicine Cabinet

Making Candles

Homemade noise makers – New Year’s.

Hospitality

Cooking with beans

Sewing pillowcases

Baking bread bowl

Making kitchen scrubbies

Coffee Delights

Gingham Napkins

Hand sewing lessons

Keeping a Pantry

Cleaning Master Bedroom

Herbs

Socks

Clothing Storage Solutions

Embroidering Pillow Cases

Making candy

Moving

Baking pizzas at home

Making sausage and salami

Making Stromboli

Fruitful delights – blackberries

Vintage Embroidery Patterns

Canning Green Beans

Olive oil Emergency Lamps

Organizing Closets

Making Skirts

Herbal Remedies

Bringing order to your home

Crocheted Edgings

Perfect Pies

Long Term Food Storage

Water Storage

Making granola

Growing and using fresh herbs

Laundry

Cake Decorating

Canning Meats

Sourdough lessons

Canning

Making Aprons

Cheese recipes

Learning to Mend

Home haircuts

Apples

Journaling

Rag quilts

Baby clothes

Making a wedding dress

All about cinnamon

Dehydrating foods

Fruit leather

Crib toys

Lotion Bars

Uncanned soup

Make your own mixes

Jelly from scraps

Detail cleaning each room

I deliberately listed the majority of these so you could see the wide range of topics.  My goal is that by the end of 2013 my house will be totally decluttered, kept consistently cleaned, a housekeeping schedule will be tested and established.  I will have learned new skills such as how to crochet, hone my sewing skills, and learn to run my household in a manner that I will be proud.  Yes, proud.  Perhaps I have been ashamed a little because I haven’t worked a full time job in over 3 years and my home doesn’t reflect a woman that is home full time.  I’ve procrastinated and been side tracked.  Now I am motivated. 

Please realize that the main reason I can do this now is because my kids are grown and have moved out.  I don’t have the added work of caring for young children nor do I work outside the home.  I find that it is now possible for me to spend the time learning and perfecting homemaking skills

This appeals to me and honestly, it is my passion. 

Now which lesson should I choose first . . . . I will let you know on my next post.