The Difference Between Homemaking and Housework

“Homemaking is not simply housework.  Housework is keeping a house clean; homemaking is creating a pleasant home for one’s family.  The aim and greatest reward of real homemaking is a happy, contented family.” ~ Quoted from an entry titled “Homemaking” by Ida Bailey Allen, Page 2875 of The Book of Knowledge, Volume Eight, Copyright 1962 by Grolier Incorporated

Time + Devotion + Nurture = Womanly and Familial Integrity

        To become a homemaker rather than a woman who merely does housework requires that a woman, as Mrs. Andelin wrote, does more than “the bare stint”, more than just enough to get by.  A homemaker adds homey touches and does her job with loving and caring devotion to not only her family’s physical health (having a clean home is very important to that), but their total health: mental, emotional, spiritual, as well as physical.  She knows that everything she does or doesn’t do in the home has an impact that is, at least in part, affected by the care she puts into her work - she nurtures herself and her family.  Her family, including herself, is wholly cared for and loved.

        An example of a difference between doing “the bare stint” and homemaking can be seen with meals.  Merely cooking or throwing together any old thing, without serious thought, with the purpose eating because everyone is hungry, is an example of housework, whereas a homemaker buys food wisely, has a knowledge of nutrition, and knows how to prepare delicious and nutritious meals, all of which she puts to use in every meal she prepares for her family.

        A homemaker has the time to nurture her family, click here to read more about this from a post titled “A Homemaker’s Loving Time”, if you’d like.

Cheerfulness + Homemaking = A Cheerful Home

“A cheerful homemaker creates a cheerful home for her family.  A complaining housewife produces such a dismal atmosphere that her family may spend as little time as possible at home.” ~ Quoted from an entry titled “Homemaking” by Ida Bailey Allen, Page 2876 of The Book of Knowledge, Volume Eight, Copyright 1962 by Grolier Incorporated

        Can you imagine what it would be like to have grown-up in a cheerful home?  A lot of women can and were blessed with growing-up in such homes, but many women in our day and age can’t fully understand the tremendous amount of benefits that growing-up in a cheerful home provides; not only benefits, but life-long effects.  Whether a woman has experienced growing-up in a cheerful home or not doesn’t mean that she can’t take a little time to imagine what creating her own cheerful home will be like.  She can make it happen - any woman who really would like more than anything to have a cheerful home and family can!  And it doesn’t have to cost her a great deal of money!  She can learn for free by taking live or online Fascinating Womanhood ~ Alaska courses (full scholarships for each are available)!  She will need to purchase items to actually clean her home, but almost all women do this anyway; she will learn, if need be, how to budget and save to get items to decorate and add homey touches to her home in these courses, as well!

Creativity + Time = A Happy Homemaker and Family

“Homemaking need never be tiresome.  On the contrary, it can be the most satisfactory of all careers because it is so creative.  A homemaker uses her skills not only to keep the house clean but to make it beautiful. ~ Quoted from an entry titled “Homemaking” by Ida Bailey Allen, Page 2881 of The Book of Knowledge, Volume Eight, Copyright 1962 by Grolier Incorporated

        Did you know that personally creating things is so powerful that it is used as therapy?  It has been for decades!  Creating things is very therapeutic; whether a woman needs therapy or not, doing creative works is outstanding for her mental well-being.  An added benefit for the homemaker is that she gets to witness how much her creative works positively affect others - those she loves most in the world – her family members!  She knows the worth of what she has created – whether it’s a loaf of bread, a painting for her children’s room, or a new set of placemats for the dining room table.  An outstanding illustration of this point can be found in The New Laurel’s Kitchen by Laurel Robertson, Carol L. Flinders, and Brian Ruppenthal, when a writer described visiting her Grandmother’s home as a child:

“It was a place of unceasing activity: of planting and plucking, of pickling and freezing, of jam boiling down on the stove while a cheesecloth bag full of curds hung from the kitchen faucet to drain.  From underneath the woodstove a scratching, scruffling sound were our clue that chicks or goslings were hatching.  Over all this my father’s mother presided, Keeper of the Keys without parallel…

“Sunday dinners were, in a way, similarly patterned.  The dining room table was leafed out to its full length and all the sons and daughters and grandchildren who could make it were fitted around, and every square inch of tablecloth was covered: platters high-piled with Parker House rolls, bowls of cole slaw and green beans, cut-glass dishes of jelly and jam and more.  If Uncle Herb was observed to enjoy the watermelon pickles, or Aunt Gertrude the garbanzos, you could count on seeing watermelon pickles and garbanzos for the next forty-five Sundays running.  She aimed to please.”

        The writer then goes onto describe more about her Grandmother’s homemaking skills, including making patchwork quilts for each of her granddaughters, then writes:

“What did my Grandmother draw upon to work the way she did?  Everybody worked hard then, terribly hard; but that doesn’t account for the restrained merriment we glimpsed in the way she went about things, or the extras.  I could say, “Oh, well, it was love.”  But that doesn’t quite get it, either… my grandmother knew her worth.  She knew the value of everything she did there in that house and around it – knew that it was endlessly significant.”

Modern Conveniences + Homemaking = A Fulfilled Woman and Family and A Thriving Society

“Today homemaking is a far cry from any humdrum occupation.  Rid of her old-time drudgery, the modern homemaker has a reasonable amount of leisure.  Thus she has time to develop her talents in the creation of a home.  When she also takes an active part in the civic and social life of her community, homemaking becomes a full-time career.” ~ Quoted from an entry titled “Homemaking” by Ida Bailey Allen, Page 2881 of The Book of Knowledge, Volume Eight, Copyright 1962 by Grolier Incorporated

        To delve into more information related to the quote above, click here to read or re-read, if you’d like, the article “The New Women’s Movement: We’re Coming Home”.

        This post is probably best summarized by the quote below:

“All the activities of civilization revolve around the home and the homemaker’s job is the most important one in the world.” ~ Quoted from an entry titled “Homemaking” by Ida Bailey Allen, Page 2881 of The Book of Knowledge, Volume Eight, Copyright 1962 by Grolier Incorporated

        Thank you for reading this post and for your interest in making your house a home!