Oh, to Be June Cleaver (Guest Post)

Welcome back to my series on homemaking. (Catch up by reading part 1, part 2, and part 3.)

Today’s post is by Callie at Through Clouded Glass. I love her blog, and really appreciate her writing for me! Come back next week to read more of her thoughts on being a homemaker while working outside the home.

I am a part-time dental hygienist. It’s a great job, but I’m afraid it’s just not my dream occupation.

What’s my dream occupation? To be a stay-at-home wife and mother. I would love to be able to take care of my home and family full-time.

To be honest, when Anna asked me to write a post for her Homemaker’s Clock series, I felt a little inadequate. I don’t feel like I’m a great homemaker, so how am I supposed to write a post about homemaking while working outside the home? I feel like a failure in this area at times. I’m still trying to figure out how to make it work.

But then as I thought about it more, I realized the reason that I feel like a failed homemaker is because I don’t measure up to my own ideal.What is my ideal? June Cleaver. 

I would love to be able to keep my house in perfect order and cleanliness day in and day out. I would love to be able to greet my kids when they come in from play or school with a plate of cookies and a cold glass of milk. I would love to be able to welcome my husband home from work everyday looking like I stepped out of a magazine, with a newspaper ready to hand to him, a smiling baby on my hip, and dinner in the oven. I want to be a homemaker like June Cleaver.

I’m afraid in reality though, that is not my life. On the days I work, the house may just fall apart. On the days I work, my husband usually greets me at the door, and dinner may just end up being fast food, or something very un-glamorous, like macaroni and cheese.

As I was beating myself up for being a failed homemaker, the thought occurred to me that even stay-at-home wives and mothers probably don’t do everything like June Cleaver day in and day out. And if I keep comparing myself to that ideal, I’ll probably feel like a homemaking failure my entire life.

Is it possible to be a keeper of the home like June Cleaver was? It might be. Is it likely that you’ll be able to live up to the June Cleaver ideal everyday? Probably not.

I think instead of comparing myself to an imaginary ideal like that, perhaps I should give more thought to what the Lord is calling me to do when it comes to homemaking. The house may not always be clean, but do I clean my house like I’m doing it for the Lord rather than for men? Dinner may not be an elaborate affair, but did I make it with a loving attitude? Things may not always be perfect and stress-free, but do I greet my husband with a smile and a kiss anyway?

I think that perhaps making a home isn’t so much about what you do, as it is about how you do it. I admit that my own attitude about homemaking is sometimes pretty shameful.

What is your attitude like? Are you doing it to make yourself feel good? Are you doing it because you feel like you have to? Do you fall into the trap of thinking that since you work, you shouldn’t have to do so much around the house?

Or do you clean, cook, bake, and live to serve your family and the Lord Jesus, rather than your own selfish desires and wants?

I think the attitude with which you serve is what truly makes a home feel like home, not how perfectly you execute the tasks. If you go into each task with the attitude of being a servant, then you can’t help but be a wonderful homemaker, and what’s more, you’ll be pleasing God while you do it. And that’s what really counts in the end anyway.