Attitude and the Home

"How how HOW?" With two small children, an old farmhouse, piles of produce waiting for sterilized jars, and laundry that was beginning to take over the basement, I finally sat down exasperated in front of my friend Stephanie.
"I mean, I don't do my laundry by hand, I have never butchered a chicken for dinner, I have modern cleaning products, and I still feel like I am being buried in it all. How did those women make it work without going insane?"
"Well, they did have fewer clothes," she reasoned "but truly, I have no idea either."
Thus began my search. There had to be a way to make a home -my home, specifically, with all of its flaws and imperfections, feel like a real home- full of rejuvenation and comfort rather than a space filled with quicksand.
I still don't have it all figured out. Sorry. I know you were reading that thinking "Surely! She must have figured this out if she is writing about it!" But the reality is, homemaking is such a skill. I know it is one that can be honed, that much I have learned so far, but I have no corner on the market, no slick trick or new ideas. Truthfully, I have been trying to reclaim the old ideas, mostly because today's schedules and routines rarely involve washing dishes by hand, gathering eggs and watering cows, tending a garden or canning produce, things that would have been second nature, or at least quite well within the scope of a homemaker's duties in days past.
Not too far into this quest I came upon a piece in Cheryl Mendelson's Home Comforts book that has stuck with me, inspired me, and changed the way I think about my home. I wanted to share it with you:

"Unfortunately, what a traditional woman did that made her home warm and
alive was not dusting and laundry. Someone can be hired to do those things (to
some extent, anyway). Her real secret was that she identified herself with her
home. Of course, this did not always turn out well. A controlling woman might
make her home suffocating. A perfectionist's home might be chilly and
forbidding. But it is more illuminating to think about what happened when things
went right. Then her affection was in the soft sofa cushions, clean linens and
good meals; her memory in well-stocked storeroom cabinets and the pantry; her
intelligence in the order and healthfulness of her home, her good humor in its
light and air. She lived her life not only through her own body, but through the
house as an extension of her body...."

As I walk into this fall season, the season where we return indoors, settle down,
fill the home with sweet scents of baking and the warmth of cozy fires, I want
to remember this attitude. That I love my kids not just by sitting and playing with
them, though that does play a part. Rather, I show my family love by how I care for
them. Preparing food, washing clothes and dusting does not detract from my ability to be a good mom and wife, but instead shows them in new and tangible ways just how important they are to me.
Winter preparation, then, by means of canning, storing up wood, and tightening windows is less about a laundry list of items to accomplish and more about the idea that I am preparing a place to love my family through the cold, forbidding months ahead.
By the way, Home Comforts is full of encouraging tidbits, as well as detailed information about caring for your home- A home reference I heartily recommend.