If your chosen career is being a homemaker, then can I suggest that we start preparing you to succeed in that role? There is nothing wrong with choosing to be a homemaker! We should treat it the same way as we would any other career, such as nursing, accounting, teaching, etc. Flying by the seat of your pants and attempting to get everything done as quickly as possible so that you can move on to something else almost guarantees failure. I get it, for those that do not love the “chores” of homemaking, almost anything else is better.

That is the wrong attitude to have! If you are choosing to be a homemaker as your primary career, then it should be treated with the same attitude and exacting standards as if being hired by a company in corporate America. We should treat each task and responsibility with the same respect, if not more, than we would a task assigned to us by an employer. Why should we shortchange our spouses, our children, and our home, just because society may imply that housework is drudgery?

And even if you are not choosing to be a homemaker as a full-time career because you have a career outside of the home, might I suggest that you consider homemaking your part-time career.

Just a simple change in mindset or perspective can go a long way to achieving the home you have always wanted. Assuming, that is, that you want a home that is intimate, cozy, welcoming, relaxing, and a bit whimsical.

Do you remember your first job outside of the home? What was the first thing you looked at? Your workspace! I don’t know about you, but one of the first things I did when I started a new job was to make sure that my workspace was set up in such a way as to enable me to be the most productive I could be. For me personally, this means an area that is neat, clean, organized, and only has a minimum of “clutter”.

Take the time to walk into your home as if entering it for the very first time as a welcome guest.

Embrace it with all of your senses. Look around. What do you see? Close your eyes. What do you hear? What do you smell? Run your hands along those items that are frequently touched: doorknobs, handrails, countertops, handles, drawer pulls, fasteners. What do these items feel like?

One final piece of advice for today…stop thinking and teaching your children that housework is a “chore”. Just the sound of that word has a negative connotation and implies a sense of drudgery. I remember not being allowed to do anything unless my “chores” were finished for the day. Instead, I consider taking care of my home in many different ways, but usually I like treating it as simply taking care of things or investing in what is conceivably the most expensive investment you will ever own.