One evening, four months postpartum, I was folding laundry. Everywhere my eyes landed, I saw work I ought to do. Nothing was satisfactory. I felt like I was busy all day, going no where. I indulged that story, replaying it over and over with each towel I folded, a towel I’d probably be washing again…
My oldest son is getting married this summer and my second son just moved out. The family inside my home, the ones I feed and instruct are contracting, not expanding. At least, that’s the way it looks and feels when I plan dinners and school schedules. Once, before our youngest was born, my husband reminded…
As we decluttering our living spaces, finding the motivation to start and maintain progress can often feel daunting. However, by understanding the concept of traction and applying it to decluttering, we can unlock the potential to create organized spaces. In February, during our annual Declutter Challenge, we discussed what decluttering traction looks and feels like…
Homemaking is a truly honorable endeavor, but one that’s easy to lose the vision for as we get lost in the details and distractions of a busy life. Homes are the building block of society, so tending them is much more than the physical upkeep. Our work as mothers is spiritual even in the midst…
Instagram is not good for our homeschools. It’s not good for our homemaking, either, or our mental and emotional health as women. Instagram works as a comparison machine. An image from someone else’s life pops in front of our eyes and our minds are instant evaluators, analyzers. That’s what our mind does. When presented with…
In my part of the world, it’s still cold, gray February. Spring feels very far away. I know that when the sun comes out, I’ll want to overhaul the whole house and scrub it down…and I’ll be tempted to skip school in order to do so. Maybe it’s spring in your neck of the woods…
When I was a young mom and homemaker, I read blogs and books on keeping house better. I didn’t love housework, but I did want to do a good job. I wanted to be a good housewife, a good homemaker. I would try to do the cleaning routines promoted by bloggers. I copied lists and…
When I was young, to suggest that there was such a thing as women’s work was considered backward, oppressive, and dumb. Now the noise-makers of the culture have moved on to trying to say that you can’t even say what a woman is with certainty, much less women’s work. So can we abandon their skepticism…
We all have so much to do that it’s hard to stay focused. In addition to hefty to-do lists, there are the million-and-one things vying for our attention and trying to get in front of our face. Distraction builds on distraction. It can be a hard mode to shift out of. Ashley didn’t realize how…
Sometimes when you homeschool tweens – the turbulent early puberty years – you need to know you’re not the only one wondering what happened to your sweet child. Trust me, you’re not the only one. I remember one totally typical homeschool day when the 9-year-old came up the stairs to find me. As she entered…