Running Your Home for Fun & Profit

Be a Good Homemaker

Being a good homemaker means taking the best care of those in your household that you can muster — including yourself.

You also should use good stewardship of all that you have been given — financial means, physical possessions, and mental abilities.

Old Assumptions No Longer Work

There used to be an odd set of assumptions in our culture. These assumptions included the belief that if you were a female, you were born knowing how to be a homemaker, a wife, and a mother. If you were a male, you understood tools, mechanical workings, and how to support, protect, and be a leader of your family.

The main reason we had these assumptions was that boys were expected to learn all things male from their fathers. They also had access to Shop classes at school. Girls were given training, not only by mom, but also in Home Economics courses at school. These things were then supplemented with spiritual guidance in Sunday church services and at home.

Cultural expectations have changed, of course, but it seems parents and society still expect at least ONE of the young couple to take care of the home and the other to pull their weight in financial support and leadership. Nowadays, however, many of the parents have not passed on their knowledge, or worse, they don’t have any knowledge to share! My generation — I’m a late Boomer — was not faithful to their calling to be good parents in many instances.

How to Learn How to Live

So, how do newlyweds set up housekeeping nowadays? How do they commence caring for themselves and their possessions? How do they make financial decisions? Often, they do so mostly by guess. Their educations are sorely lacking. It becomes people’s responsibility to educate themselves, since their elders have let them down.

Resources for Training Ourselves

To educate themselves, people need to find good resources. Community centers often offer courses in various subjects. Libraries are a free source of knowledge. They offer books, of course, but also magazines and videos for The worldwide web offers endless ways to learn. Even the government at different levels can be useful.

If the person or persons are interested in entrepreneurship, they might contact the Small Business Administration for advice. There are many courses available online on sites such as Lynda.com, Udemy.com, or Craftsy.com. Simply do a search for online learning sources. Do not forget to check for online videos about your subject of interest.

An older, experienced neighbor might be able to help in specific instances. I have taught neighbors various things: how to put up wallpaper; how to do canning; how to sew, how to make bread, and so on. I myself learned from older family members, from books, from videos, and from classes in various stores.

Do you remember the old Stretch and Sew fabric stores from the seventies? They offered classes on sewing with knits, which is where I began my sewing education. Also, some building materials stores offer classes on building various small projects — this is a great way to learn how to use tools.

After You Learn Pass It On

I would strongly encourage new homemakers to study the important subjects that are necessary to make a good life for themselves. If they can commence with reasonable knowledge, then they can continue with fewer bumps in the road forward.

I would also encourage them to be available to others who have questions, perhaps even offering community classes in various subjects. It can be difficult to find information simply because there is so much to sift through. Sharing is another way of learning, too.