Marie wrote:

On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 15:24:38 GMT, Dawn Lawson
wrote:

Marie wrote:
I know LOTS of people who have spotless houses, hot meals, and enjoyable
children because they stay at home.


Hot meals, I have. Enjoyable children, *I* think so! I guess I do too
much with the kids to spend too much time doing other things. (I
homeschool and the kids are the main part of my life)

You made quite a sweeping statement that no one with similar commitments
has a spotless house. I've been pondering this, as I know literally
dozens of families that do, AND they do things like make most of their
own clothing, food (bread, canning, butchering, etc) AND are very
involved in community and such. I'm finding it very interesting to try
to pinpoint the difference between these families (where i'm guessing
the average number of kids is 4 or 5) and families I am reading about
here where there's *one* child and a SAH parent, and the household so
frazzled it seems ok to walk past animal waste because it's too
difficult to manage to clean it up. (Ok that's not said commonly, but
at least two people have posted just that)

I'm curious because I find the first group to be a calm, warm, loving
group, with welcoming homes, and a commitment to quality workmanship. I
find the second group to be frazzled and harried and generally
struggling to keep one disaster or another at bay. There's clearly some
fundamental difference between the SAHM and the communities in both
groups.




Again, these same moms I know sew, knit, do woodwork, maintain enormous
gardens to feed the families etc.


I want a garden, I just need to figure out where to have one where the
cows(not mine) won't eat it through the fences, but there will still
be room for the kids to play.

Double fence the garden area, with about a six foot gap if you can, the
kids can play around in the gap, the cows can't get near the garden.
And garden in raised beds, and the kids can play in the garden too.
(plus you get more yeild for the area gardened)



I suspect from what I have been told by people coming here or hearing
what my plans are for the day that I am further to the camp of spotless
house and such than not.
I dont' see why you can't do all these things if you wanted, when you're
a SAHM.


I guess if I wanted to do it I could, I just feel there are more
important things to spend my time on. Hmm, I do play piano, do my
online stuff and read as hobbies, and I go out every other weekend
with a friend so I guess there are my "me" times. Except my hobbies
are usually done with a baby on me!

I'm not even talking about "me" time. I'm talking about doing all the
things people say you have to stop doing when there are kids, because
there isn't time in the day.

So. Now I'm curious. Again. ;-)

WHAT are the more important things that you spend your time on?

I wonder if I *don't* do them, or if I do them *as well* as all the
other things I do, ditto for the first group I mentioned...

Dawn