HomeMaker vs HouseKeeper

Published on February 23, 2008 By JillUser In Life Journals

I believe that a HomeMaker and a HouseKeeper are very different things. I, for one, am a very good HomeMaker but a less than good HouseKeeper (at least right now with a toddler). I am not a person that can't sleep if there's a dirty dish or some other mess. I know very well it will still be there in the morning.

I do think that I am quite good at home making though. I can take an empty house and make it quite cozy quite quickly. I also fill the home with wonderful smells of baking and candles. I like to play music throughout the house and I like to decorate in a way that shows that our family lives there and it isn't just an indescript model home.

You would never mistake our home for a model. You can always tell that there have been children everywhere and that the living room has been lived in. We have no room in the house that doesn't get used on a regular basis. The dining room might not always be used for dining but it is always used for scrapbooking or as a staging area for stuff on its way out of the house when not in use for dining.

Creature comforts are huge in my book. I can't think of anything that is just for show. We use our jacuzzi tub all the time. We sit and read in our front room. We live in all of our house and I like to think that part of the reason that's the case is because I have made the entire house "homey".

I hope to become a better House Keeper in the future. Right now cleaning just seems futile. I put stuff away and 2 seconds later my one baby recking crew (a.k.a. Ashley) has stuff spread out like a bomb went off. She has an affinity for taking soil out of our planters and spreading it around the house as well as tasting it. In other words, we don't have an "eat off the floor" kind of home. But we do have a "sit a while and relax" kind of home. And I'm okay with that.

Comments

crimson

on Feb 24, 2008

I am neither, unfortunately. Now that Kole's older, you'd think it would get easier to keep things neat and tidy, but really, our apartment just feels so 'transient'. We drop off stuff, and we are always on the move.

It's great that you can turn a space into something homey. My sister has that gift; she's got an apartment virtually identical to mine, and it certainly feels like a good place to come home to.

I am guessing it's both a gift and a skill. I'm sure it doesn't go unappreciated!

Locamama

on Feb 24, 2008

I am the same way, I say my house is clean enough to be healthy but messy enough to be happy. I don't want to have the house where no one is allowed to sit on the couch or wear shoes or it's the end of the world if something isn't put away. Those homes might be showhomes but they definately lack the welcoming, coziness of a real home. I think it's much more important to spend time with your family than spend your time cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning. That's the only way I can keep my house pristine is if I literally never sit down and it's not worth that to me.

JillUser

on Feb 25, 2008

I am guessing it's both a gift and a skill. I'm sure it doesn't go unappreciated!

I don't have any other discernable skills so hopefully that's one

I have been complemented a lot on how relaxing and cozy our home seems. It has some big open rooms that people thought would never feel homey when we first bought the house but they later seemed surprised and actually used the word "cozy".

Maybe part of your problem is you haven't committed to it being home. Maybe in your heart it is just a transitional place and you are holding out for "home".

That's the only way I can keep my house pristine is if I literally never sit down and it's not worth that to me.

I have friends who do exactly that. I think it is just some people's nature (or compulsive disorder). I never can relax when I'm afraid I might muss up a perfect pillow or get a little sand on the perfectly mopped floor. I do hope to learn to keep my home a little more tidy than it's current default state. I think a big part is just the age that my little one is at.

KarmaGirl

on Feb 25, 2008

I'm a horrible house keeper. I've always been a bit of a slob, though. I am not unsanitary, but I am definitely messy. However, my hiuse feels like "home", and people seem to be comfortable when there, so it's OK.

Tova7

on Feb 25, 2008

Since I am a SAHM, part of my job description is keeping the house in order. And I believe my family is worth my very best effort. There is a distinct difference between clutter and filth. Any home with a healthy toddler will have loads of clutter during the day.

Right now I can look around my family room floor and see balls, action figures, and plastic power tools. But at the end of the day, after the kids are down, I pick everything up and put it all away. I believe my kids deserve to wake up to a clean slate every morning, an orderly place to call their own.

I guess it depends on what defines cozy for each individual. I can't get cozy in a house with dirt on the floor, yesterdays dishes piled in the sink, or that is so cluttered with days and days of toys, it just feels too chaotic to me.

And lots of people feel the same, else why bother to clean up before company? I want people to feel welcome in my home, but also like being here is a "special treat" for all their senses. Like I cared enough about them to try and make my home as enjoyable to them as it is to me.

Cozy to me is clean, fresh, and comfortable. And that is exactly what I try to give my kids, my husband, and our guests.

JillUser

on Feb 25, 2008

Right now I can look around my family room floor and see balls, action figures, and plastic power tools. But at the end of the day, after the kids are down, I pick everything up and put it all away. I believe my kids deserve to wake up to a clean slate every morning, an orderly place to call their own.

That sounds familiar. I don't pick up at night for my kids though. I get off to a better start in the morning if I don't wake up to a totally chaotic house. I try to make beds, periodically tidy up and I try to keep up with dishes and laundry. Some days it just isn't feasible if I'm barely home.

I've started enlisting the older ones in tidying up. It definitely helps. I think they are a little more mindful of making a huge mess after they did the work of picking up.

I love cooking but some nights dinner ends up late because my hubby comes home late and then we go directly to baths and putting the baby to bed so it's 9PM by the time I get to cleaning up after dinner. If I have a choice of doing dishes or hanging out with my husband before I drop from exhaustion at the end of the day, I choose hanging with my hubby and the dishes will be there in the morning.

Wasn't it Erma Bombeck that said that it's doubtful that at the end of any woman's life she said "I only wish I had kept a cleaner house".

Texas Wahine

on Feb 25, 2008

I completely suck as a house keeper and as a decorator.

It's not that I don't care or that I don't try, but apparently I don't care or try quite hard enough, haha.

I want to have an inviting, comfy home, and sometimes I do, but sometimes it is just chaos.

Right now we've been stuck in this hotel for weeks, and even cleaning this suite is a chore, haha. I can get everything in order and within half an hour it looks just like I did before I cleaned up. It's depressing.

Anyways, I admire women who keep a lovely home.

Tova7

on Feb 25, 2008

If I have a choice of doing dishes or hanging out with my husband before I drop from exhaustion at the end of the day, I choose hanging with my hubby and the dishes will be there in the morning.

I agree. Thank God for dishwashers!

lifehappens

on Feb 25, 2008

clean enough to be healthy but messy enough to be happy

Amen!

A clean house is a sign of a boring woman!

JillUser

on Feb 27, 2008

A clean house is a sign of a boring woman!

Amen to that!

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