Discovering Homemaking
a mindful pursuit of domestic expertise
One measure of being good at homemaking is how quickly and efficiently you get stuff done. And, since being efficient = being good, and being good = enjoying, then being efficient = enjoying Thus, according to my sound transitive logic, enjoying homemaking means spending as little time as possible doing it. According to Deniece Schofield, […]
Things I loathe: Overkill summertime air-conditioning. Spaced-out drivers. Selfies where people are trying to look sexy. Cockroaches. Dragging my kids through their get-ready-for-school routines, morning after morning after identical morning… “Get dressed. Eat your breakfast. Keep eating. EAT. Brush your teeth. Brush your hair. BRUSH YOUR FREAKING HAIR, LIKE YOU DO EVERY SINGLE MORNING, FOR […]
Shampoo I never realized modern shampoo is so… modern. Shampoo was essentially invented in the 1930s, before which people mostly washed their hair with soap or used vegetable starches, herbs, or ash to absorb oil. However, soap, especially in hard water, can leave the hair dull, weak and rough. So around the turn of the […]
I’ve been thinking recently about overhauling my “beauty regimen” and hitting a stride that’s more natural, simple, and affordable. My current beauty regimen includes both expensive natural products and expensive chemical-laden products. My bathroom cabinet is Sea Kelp Shampoo meets Petroleum Hand Lotion. Daisy Extract Face Wash meets Retinol Wrinkle Cream. The state of my […]
One of most effective ways to touch the present moment is to observe the breath, which is always accessible anywhere, anytime. Conscious breathing draws us into the now and gently coaxes us away from thoughts about the past or future. The breath links the mind, which usually lives in the past or the future, to […]
Children live in the present moment, which makes them both magical and inconvenient. Children naturally connect to their immediate experience of exploration and play because they have not yet learned how to live in their minds like we do. They are not so concerned about planning for the future or reflecting on the past. They […]
At our house, laundry day = movie day. That’s because approximately six loads of laundry get folded while our weekly family movie flickers on the screen. That’s because I do all our laundry in one day. And – no joke – it’s a day we all enjoy. Former Laundry Trauma Before I stumbled on the […]
Giveaway (NOW Essential Oils) details below Did you know… * Children under the age of six account for more than 75% of the 7 million accidental household poisonings that occur in the US each year, according to The Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. * Every 30 seconds, a child is accidentally poisoned at home, says […]
My house has gone through many incarnations of Toy Haven: toys in the bedroom, toys in the playroom, toys in the formal-dining-room-turned-activity-room, toys coming out of my ears. My kids actually don’t have a huge volume of toys. A French friend once saw our playroom and said, “Zis is all ze toys you ave?” I […]
I don’t enjoy cleaning either. For most of us modern folks, the art of housekeeping has taken a back seat to more interesting pastimes that were neither encouraged nor available to the classic 1950s homemaker (think: career, or, Pinterest). I can think of an infinite number of activities that vie for my attention throughout the […]