A lot of people close to me have recently asked "Why did you start your blog? How did you choose a topic for it?" Basically, I wanted to write about something that I find interesting, and for whatever reason, the 50's have always intrigued me. I am a social worker, and I love family work - the 50's family has always appealed to me, at least the way it is depicted on tv and in movies. I wanted to choose something that I wouldn't soon lose interest in, even if no one else chooses to tune in to what I have to say.
Also, I'm a terrible "housewife." Perhaps terrible is too strong a word, but at the very least, homemaking does not come naturally to me. But I so want it to. I often find myself perusing MarthaStewart.com and reading an article where she is explaining something she (and presumably most of her readers) will find relatively simple...and I'm scratching my head wondering how the heck to plant flowers, grow vegetables, or serve a whole chicken. And I'm not convinced I will ever truly "get it."
So this is my fun experiment, and if I can learn a thing or two along the way, that's good, too. I hope to benefit my family with the changes I'm going to make, and perhaps friends, too if they should be so lucky as to sample some 50's fare (excluding noodle loaf!). I read something that encouraged me in my pursuit today and I thought I would share it with you. It's from Successful Entertaining at Home, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite books. This particular passage has do with the idea of making the most of what you have and living a rich life even if you aren't, well...rich.
I read an insurance report not long ago which said that money troubles, strangely enough, were not the greatest troubles in families. Families do remarkably well at living within their means, it seems; but getting happiness from the money they have is the great problem (p. 355).
How true is that? Since my son was born in May, my husband and I went from being DINKS (double income, no kids) to OIOKs...ok, I just made that up...one income, one kid...s..not sure it works quite the same. A synonym for that is: CRAZY. We live in one of the most expensive areas of the country and my husband is a teacher...so, you know, we're not exactly rolling in the dough. However, neither of us could stomach the idea of me working full time and putting our baby boy in daycare.
The funny thing is, we have not really struggled much, despite having significantly less money than we did a year ago. I mean, I don't get Starbucks as much, and I haven't been to the mall in a while, but I don't feel as if we've really given anything up. We still have friends over for dinner, we still go out occasionally, and we live a very full life. Not to mention I get to be with my sweet boy all day and don't have to shell out an ungodly sum for daycare every month. Oh, also...we still eat, have heat, can buy food for our son, have clothes, and HD cable TV. It's funny to think about how worried we were about money only to realize we have always had everything we need. And then some. We are truly blessed.
...Living and homemaking is a business these days, as much as any other. Let's hope you get your money's worth.
I don't know about you, but I fully intend to.
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