A Painted Barn

A few years ago I read about a book called The Art of Homemaking by Daryl V. Hoole on a sewing blog I read, and have kind of wanted my own copy of this retro, slightly kitschy book ever since. This year I finally bought a copy and it was my Christmas gift to myself. It's a simple and fast read that was originally published in 1962 and is filled with slogans and examples that I'm sure weren't meant to be hilarious, but totally are. Most of that humor comes because what was normal in the 1960s quickly has quickly become outdated but I've loved reading about a time when roles were black and white and life seemed simpler. In the end, her advice is as relevant to life in 2016 as it was in 1962.

The book emphasizes time management, creativity, and seeing the big picture in homemaking. It also focuses on the fact that homemaking can be an art and, if done correctly, leaves stay at home moms with more time for their lives outside of keeping house. Plus the illustrations always make me smile - the happy, ideal housewife in her dress and apron getting it done around the house juxtaposed with the housewife lounging on the sofa in her robe surrounded with chocolates and apple cores is a perfect example of what you'll see in this book.

Overall, I think I'm an okay homemaker but improvement is always a worthy goal. Over the past year I went from staying at home, to working part time, to working full time, and then moving and living in a hotel for two months (thank you housekeeping for making our beds, cleaning our bathrooms, taking out the trash, etc. We miss you!) and all of that led to some of my good habits falling by the wayside. The book is divided into twenty different facets that make up the ideal homemaker with advice and stories that illustrate each point. I've read the entire thing already, but I plan to go back and go through it again a chapter at a time and spend a week focusing on each facet.

Facet 1 is the two A's of Attitude and Appearance. The introduction to the chapter says, "An ideal homemaker is lovely to look at and lovely to be around - she has a wholesome attitude and a pleasing appearance. She has the courage to be happy and strives to live above the faults of moodiness, sulkiness, and complaining. She is gracious and thoughtful and is consequently adored by her family and admired by all who know her." Doesn't that sound perfectly unattainable? Family adoration and general admiration is my goal for this week!

Look at the illustration of the two homemakers. Sadly, I don't even measure up to the "bad" homemaker example. She's at least sleepily burning her husband's breakfast toast. I'm typically dead asleep and drooling on my pillow when Jared's up and eating his breakfast before he heads out the door to work. The point that goes along with these drawings is that a good attitude goes a long way toward making housework feel less like drudgery and more like the important work it is. Looking at the things I do each day and the overall purpose of my work is step one. I do the laundry so my family can have neat, clean clothing to wear, I plan meals and grocery shop so my kids can have healthy lunches and delicious dinners, and I keep the house in order so we can have the Spirit in our home. By focusing more on the results instead of the process and by being grateful and counting my blessings, my attitude will change and the sometimes monotonous work of homemaking becomes a stimulating creative endeavor.  I have no doubt that loving what you do makes a big difference and, for the most part, my attitude toward homemaking is already positive. I love staying home and doing what I can to make our home peaceful, beautiful, and happy.

The appearance section of the chapter was full of gems like  - BEAUTY IS A DUTY - all in capital letters too! The biggest thing I took away was how important it is to get completely dressed every morning, the earlier the better. This isn't a new concept for me as I'm pretty sure it's advice I've read before. The idea is that until I'm dressed I'm not prepared for anything but once I'm dressed everything works out better. I have more motivation to start checking things off my to-do list and make the most of my time. Things definitely go much faster and more smoothly when I'm properly dressed. As she says, "If you LOOK THE PART, you'll feel like DOING THE PART."

Honestly, I'm often guilty of staying in stretchy pants all day if I know that I have nowhere to go. But just because I will be at home all day doesn't mean I should wear whatever I pulled on when I rolled out of bed that morning, pull my hair up in a messy ponytail, and have my only makeup be the previous day's makeup that I was too lazy to wash off the night before. Ready for another great line from the book? "Even a barn looks better if it's been painted." So, bottom line is, I'm really making an effort to work on the appearance half of facet number one. 

Makeup and hair have never really been my thing. Partly because I don't really know what I'm doing and partly because I'm just lazy. So I'm trying harder to make time for getting pretty each day and am even working on learning more about makeup and hair. These are probably things I should have learned twenty-seven years ago when I first started wearing makeup, but who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

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