Nowadays I find homemaking more exciting than when I was working. I guess I have more time to play around and I've been doing household chores since I can remember. I enjoy cooking new recipes, trying new household tips and sharing them with my sister and two daughters who run tiptop households themselves and are enthusiastic cooks as well.
Part of my work as the head of administration in my former job was to interview about 300 applicants every year. When married applicants were asked about their present occupation, each one was reluctant to admit that she is "just a housewife or just a homemaker". What's wrong with being "just a housewife"? Isnt it is the most dignified, challenging and rewarding job ever?
One very sensible lady I hired to head a branch office stayed at home for sometime. Though her husband tried to convince her to help him run the family-owned lucrative business enterprise, still, she felt the need to be recognized for what she is worth outside the home.
In our grandmothers' time, being a homemaker was the best option, if not the only option there was for married women. In fact their parents prepared them for this role; the upper class debutantes were sent abroad to exclusive girls' schools where courses on good housekeeping, cooking, sewing, gardening and other related subjects were emphasized.
Nowadays however, when life is becoming very expensive, some families need two salaries of both father and mother to live comfortably and afford some luxuries. When the wife goes to work, either by choice or out of necessity; she is no longer "just the housewife", but she is still the homemaker and the burden of running the household remains her responsibility; even if she delegates the actual work to hired help.
If you are a wife, especially if you are a mother, you will agree with me that we don't punch the bundy clock here, the job is 24/7, on call at all hours, with no breaktime if the situation warrants. As my newly married daughter says: "house chores never end"; there's always the groceries to purchase, meals to plan and prepare; clothes to load in the washer, to sort and to fold; the garden and plants to tend, dishes to wash, beds to make, and most importantly see to the children's needs and welfare.
In spite the fact that running a household is much, much more demanding than a regular job, I've always encouraged my daughters to pursue careers outside the home after college. I did that myself and I feel that they should also enjoy the best of both worlds. Who says that a woman can't have it all?
Unfortunately some housewives are just too tired or too overwhelmed to think clearly what they want for themselves, they are stuck, deeply buried in that enormous heap of chores to take control of their lives. Other women though are more imaginative that they see the in-between nooks and cranks in a tedious day at home where they can squeeze in the opportunity to pursue a hobby or do something for themselves. If one will just be more creative and gear her steps towards her dreams, then who knows what will come out of it?
As Albert Einstein said: "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity".
Take Julia Child for one, who had no idea how to cook enrolled in the famous Le Cordon Bleu just so she can cook well for her husband. She took this so seriously with great determination; and little did she knew that she would eventually build a fabulous career out of it.
Then again there is also the household diva, Martha Steward who elevated household drudgery into creative art by doing it in style. She restored, renovated and decorated an old schoolhouse into its former glory, making it a comfortable home for her family. She had no idea that this experience would lead to a vast multi-media business empire.
Now, you'll tell me that we can't all be like Julia or Martha, why not? Let us not forget that they too, were just like us; but they were eager to learn, persistent to try, patient to do things over and over again, and brave enough to embrace challenges; to take a step further and to make that commitment to succeed. And that makes all the difference.
Finally, It is every woman's choice either to join the workforce or be a full-time homemaker. What's important is, every woman needs to find herself to be the best she can be.
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