We see it more and more in today's media world. A woman, living alone, being 'self-sufficient'. She doesn't need a man to do home repair for her! "Today's Woman" can repair furniture. She's up on a ladder cleaning out the rain gutters. She's a novice electrician, replacing fixtures and even doing a little easy rewiring. There she goes with the lawn mower again.
That's the joke, really. For generations, homemakers have engaged in these activities, 'even' with a man in the house. Oh, of course he helps out on the weekends, to ease up the workload a little. But there's no reason why a homemaker today, in addition to cooking and cleaning, should not know these things. They are but one of the many facets that make homemaking so much more than knowing how to turn out Grandma's brownies and get blood stain out of an outfit. The mundane chores that so many people speak of as being the largest part of homemaking is only the routine stuff that should be doable within a relatively small part of your day.
Over the past month, I have been putting my home improvement skills into play. My sister and I cleared out a small bedroom downstairs that I have decided will be the 'library', a room housing my sewing table, our piano, a computer desk, and an impressive array of books. I looked up multiple articles on color-choosing before selecting the precise hues I wanted, designed the look of the room around a prominent print (the curtain, in this case), and bought what I needed.
Interior decorating hasn't been my only work, however. I also refinished the deck. Yes, homemakers, your wood deck probably needs a new coat of stain/sealant about once every two to ten to twenty years, depending on your location and the stuff you use. I picked out the best form of sealant available, with a ten-year guarantee that comes out to more like eight in this area. Why? Because apparently great extremes between heat and cold (my climate ranges from 105F in the summer to -5F in the winter), plus increased humidity and violent storms (I live near the shoreline), can really do a number on a good sealant. Your deck needs to be able to shed water and withstand sun if it is going to last.
In some families, they make enough money to hire somebody to refinish the deck for you. This is not one of them. I knew I was going to have to do it myself, since my four-year-old son is too young to work at it. Now, in some households, the homemaker is not sturdy or limber enough to go out and spend all morning on the deck with a paintbrush and roller. (Another topic entirely: the importance of keeping yourself in sufficient shape to take on your tasks!) I am capable of it. And so I saved my husband the work and worry and did it myself. The only part I was unable to handle was lifting the glass-topped table off the deck. This we did together in the morning before he had to leave. (My in-laws gave us their old deck furniture, a beautiful set of chairs and table.)
Thanks to my willingness to learn, ask, and simply work, we protected our deck for the next ten years on a total of about $30. The last time it needed doing, I was working and so we hired someone for the job. It cost us $150. This is yet another example of how a good homemaker can save the household a lot of money with a bit of intelligence and gumption.
I agree; I think it's great to have a man do the work that takes most physical strength, especially if a woman is not physically strong enough (or, say, very pregnant/after birth); but overall, the home is our realm isn't it?
ReplyDeleteIt is. In this household there are few exceptions.
ReplyDeleteBernie handles the lawnmower. Oh, I can run it if he starts it up for me! But it's a riding mower currently having problems, and you have to jumpstart it with the car. Don't get me wrong, I know how to jumpstart a car. But I confess that jumpstarting the mower is just a little too... well... He'll be repairing it, too. He repaired the refrigerator when the defrosting coil broke. This is because he's got training in electronics, and though I have the capacity to understand, I neither understand readily nor completely!
He also does the dump run, since we don't have garbage pickup service and so it involves loading the garbage into these enormous special bags and driving them to the dump. I can do the recyclables, though.
One thing that he does that I have the physical capability to do is the cat litter. The reason why he handles the cat litter is because pregnant women MIGHT get a disease from cat feces, and he decided to treat me (in that regard) as always potentially pregnant.
Each household is different. I learned how to do typical 'man chores' from my mother, because my father had a back injury when I was quite young.