50's Housewife comes Home, Organizing your day

 

    You wake up on Day One of being home...You can't believe you are actually here? Even the sun is shining as if to say...this is going to be a great day...but...now what do you do? You've never been here before.   The first thing I did when I came back home was...sat around and caught up with hanging out with Netflix and playing all the Candy Crush I wanted and cooked occasionally, ate sweets and gained 15 lbs. SERIOUSLY!!! But...it was glorious!  I got some stuff accomplished but it was like playing hooky from life and Pajamas worked just fine when you are staying home.  Once I came out of the sugar stupor I realized I was wasting the time at home that I so desired to have back. I thought..."this is never going to work out without a plan". So, the first thing I did was to make a plan. What I was going to accomplish each day...and made it sort of a to do list.  I had a ton to do with closing my business and selling my inventory...taxes etc. So, I had to tackle that first and any leftovers from my 'past' life. Then...I broke up the days with a sort of wish list and some things I have still not accomplished...like Sundays Rest/Family Day.
But here it is such as it is. You will have different rooms, a different life...maybe a few kids rooms, Homeschooling etc. I usually will have some old TV show on in the background while I do some of these chores...especially Ironing and folding laundry. I Love Lucy...Leave it to Beaver...etc.

My menus for the week reflect my busy days or Craft Day are leftover or simple meals. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday...maybe a store pizza, or frozen Ravioli with leftover sauce I always seem to have in the freezer, Hot dogs on the grill etc.  I have a few quick meals for these days also.

Daily:

Dishes, wipe down counters, wipe down stove top, sweep kitchen floor, make the bed, pick up the house (not cleaning just picking up and putting things away) and the Work of the Day...or Room of the Day

Personal care: 

I tried to go to sleep and wake up at the same time everyday..sometimes not so successful. But I do go to bed early because I realized at night was when I wasted the most time on the computer.  During my 50's experiment I was reading books or magazines before bed which was way cozier...and I was reading books that I had bought years ago on subjects I was interested in and had gathered dust waiting for me to pick them up...hmmm...I need to adopt that as a regular night time thing instead of being kept awake by the computer.  Anyway, So I set a timer on my phone that would go off at the same time every evening to tell me it was time to start getting ready for bed. Sometimes I ignore it and always regret it.  When I wake up I take my morning  medicine, start coffee, while coffee is brewing I go and wash my face, lotion, brush my hair and brush my teeth. I have to wait 30 minutes before I can eat or drink after my pill...bummer to have to wait for coffee. Then I go and write in my journal...it keeps me organized and also when I need to vent, the journal gets it instead of someone else :) Finally, Coffee...read my bible for a bit...then get dressed, feed the chickens and let them out in the yard. collect their eggs. I have 8 baby chicks I am caring for right now so I take care of their needs next. I have a homesteading accounts book and write in how many eggs I collected and either look at a list already made for the homestead for the day, or start a new one. So, I am taking care of my household chores while also doing a large "Victory Garden" and chickens and honey bees. Around 3pm I stop whatever I am doing and wash up and start dinner if it is a day to cook...Oh Yeah..somewhere in there I get dressed for the day. It really depends on how cold it is outside as to when I actually do that. We heat with wood so the Living Room is toasty while the Bedroom may be freezing! 

       

 I hope that gives you motivation to plan your own weeks, without a plan, without aim, the days just slip away.

So You Wanna Be a Stay at home 50's Housewife ... Making it Happen

    I was thinking about the Vintage Housewife revival and wondering what made them the women we think that they are. Can we actually reproduce that? It is more than loving the styles and making our houses look retro, although it is cozy. It is more than loving our family, wanting to be with our children and give them the best childhood ever, although you wouldn't have the 50's mentality without that being a priority. All the things that are done to reflect those times...baking cookies, cooking from scratch, loving housework, wearing aprons etc. is not going to really do it. I realized to be an authentic, 50's housewife you had to be a 1930's Child. You had to grow up during the Great Depression where money was scarce and making ends meet...real ends like rent and food, was the highest priority. Kids made a lot of their own toys and games, the clothes that were made were a lot of time out of feed sacks. I know that sounds so wonderful now and we look for those things in antique shops and on Ebay, but if you were a child growing up endlessly in that place of concern for the basic necessities feed sacks would be "making do". These were things that I never worried about and I can tell you the kids today don't give a thought to them either. Things like, if their shoes got too tight and knew there was no money for new ones...or while playing you accidentally ripped your clothes knowing it was not a disposable item like we view clothing today.
   To be a typical 50's Housewife you would have had teen and early adult years with a World War and Rationing. You would be seeing brothers, Sweethearts and perhaps fathers going off to war. You would be finding out some of your childhood friends would never be coming back. Mom, who was always there in the kitchen doing the best she could for you was now working at the Factory. Rosie the Riveter

seems like a great Iconic figure in the fight for equality (I personally have always felt equal) But what did it do to Home life? Mom worked all day, dragged herself home to do laundry, cook meals and keep the Home Fires burning and you saw the struggle and the worry. So all your formative years would have been seeing a fight to survive. And then...the war is over, the guys come home and you get married. There is a prosperity that you have never known, a security and a sense of pride in being an American that helped put an end to a war "over there". You stay home and have children in a peaceful environment. You are happy. You are content....Aahhh...Contentment. Is that even a thing anymore?  So, to be a 50's housewife you have to learn to be content with what you have and yes, purchasing new things became a manic obsession in the 50's...Like a starving man set before a banquet table, they went crazy with the prosperity and all the new inventions. We had what everyone else had. A Car, a vacation once every few years not anything lavish, washer, new shoes every year before school and then again at Easter. Our entertainment was getting together with neighbors, BBQs, going to the zoo, the movies and...that is about it and they were happy, thankful and CONTENT.

SO...

How can you make that happen? It seems impossible?  We can at least try...first things first so go grab a cup of tea and let's see if I can help

So, if you are serious what would be the first things to consider...besides changing your modern mind and learning to be content with little?

So...If you can do it...do it! You will never regret it! If you are almost there or need to really work it to get there...push forward, don't settle for living a life that you aren't satisfied with, always dreaming of someday but never putting in the effort to get there. There is no reset in life, kids don't have a pause button. If you are a happy Rosie the Riveter and part time 50's homemaker then keep up the good work. You get to be happy with your choices without having to defend your position just as those who choose to stay home shouldn't feel the need to defend theirs either.
Oh...and the now what? I can get to that sometime this week or next. So much to learn and do!

Leaving the 1950's...Retro Housewife Experiment

And Done!

Oooppps...This picture makes it look like I might sleep in the same bed with my husband...How un-1950's is that?

There...That's Better!

So, I have been done for a few days but as I have said in previous posts that Spring has sprung early on the Homestead and there are a million things I am trying to do to catch up and of course I added work to myself when I stop at the Farm Supply to pick up one thing and came home with 8...well plus the one thing I went in for which was seed potatoes.

        They are adorable and I needed to add to the Flock anyway...but back to the 50's

     I have to say that My house never looked so great. The 1950's had such limited options that I had time to do the things I thought I never had time to do. The computer was used to post the blog and answer comments but that is it. I had to ask my husband about some news I had no idea about and it all seemed to be much ado about nothing. So, I probably will try to curb the influx of stupid news...if there is anything happening that will directly affect me I am sure I will be told. It has been so peaceful being out of the loop with all of that. I also baked more in the 1950's and saved money with only shopping once a week. I have to say that with eating all these baked goods, and regular meals I lost weight...2 lbs. Nothing to write home about but I wasn't really trying this month so that was a perk.

   What I love about the 21st Century:

• My Ninja Coffeemaker
• Starbuck's Coffee
• Microwaves
• Unfortunately...Video Games like Candy crush...(that didn't take long to reenter that stupid addiction...I need to do something about it...maybe live in the 1940s...LOL)
• Shopping online
• GOOGLE!!!
• YOUTUBE!!!! Basically these 2 tools you can learn about anything and actually watch people perform these tasks...LOVE IT!

What I love about the 1950's:

• Peace and Quiet...(really...even if you don't watch much TV being on the computer with social media is a VERY LOUD disturbance into your life. I don't know if that makes sense to you but the amount of information and opinions is overwhelming. I will be keeping to the down low with reading all of it. )
• Purpose...okay that sounds dorky, but the limited 1950's housewife found purpose in being the best in her small world. Taking care of the kids, cooking the best dinners, looking after the cleanest house, pleasing her husband by looking nice and taking care of his life and banishing ring around the collar. You didn't have the broad spectrum of choices so you can actually accomplish things and do them thoroughly and well...instead of everything getting a quick pass as you move onto something else
• Being surrounded by the TV shows and music of the Pre-60's days made me realize how much we accept in our world that would have been considered unacceptable back in the Good 'Ol Days.  Sex is about as everyday assault in the 21st century as is traffic noise. REALLY!! It is way past ridiculous and not veiled at all. Lewd lyrics in music..TV and movies where you meet in the morning and you are in bed by the evening and if not that quick by the end of the movie definitely. As soon as you find out you like each other the next step is sex. 

Give me this....

...and they lived Happily Ever After

    I discovered this about myself and actually put this as part of the about me section of the blog:

   I am a mix of periods of time...I am a Pioneer in the 1800s on my way by Oregon trail, being resourceful and blazing a trail in my life an area that I have not experienced or walked in before. I am a housewife living through the Great Depression, being frugal and pinching pennies and trying to live simply and purposefully with the Motto "Use it up, Wear it Out, Make Do or Do without" I am a WW2 mom who has a Victory Garden going trying to feed the family and help makes ends meet...no rationing in real life but cooking from scratch with what we grow along with some staples from the stores works. I am a 1950's Mom/Grandma who happily stays home and does all those "tiresome" homemaking jobs...but with Joy. Fiercely proud of my family! Who loves traditions, who loves her husband and family and who still cooks, sews, knits and all those other "Lost Arts" which are experiencing a renaissance of interest with the newest Generation of adults. I am a modern homesteader with Chickens, Honey Bees, Fruit Trees and Berry Bushes, Grapes, Vegetables gardens all trying to be cared for organically and without GMO involvement. I have a desire to grow mushrooms and have Dairy Goats in the future and try to move us into a more Self Sufficient and Sustainable life in our retirement years. 

I have loved doing this...and may do something else in the future...maybe another period of time. The 40's look interesting :)

Have a good Old Fashioned Life...Hope to see you on here as I move on with my growing season. Thanks for all the comments, input and encouragements over this past month.