Finding simple, organized & healthy living solutions for modern homemaking.
Hello, I’m Charity!
My husband and I married about ten years ago and have three amazing sons. I grew up in sunny California, and we now live in sunny Florida. My desire for this homemaking blog is to provide you with the necessary information to be successful quickly. Modern Homemaking 101 offers practical step-by-step instructions to become a thriving homemaker through searchable and educational videos. I also give written course notes on the videos for reference.
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My Homemaking Story
My artful homemaking journey began when I had my first child and quit my full-time job. I envisioned all the pleasures of homemaking. I would have ample time to keep a house tidy and a baby fed, playing, and happy. There would be extra time for exercise and reading. I would also have dinner on the table and extra energy to give my husband back rubs every night too. I thought a college degree and professional work experience would make taking care of a baby a snap. My expectations changed quickly, however. When coming home with my newborn for the first time, I realized successful homemaking was more intricate than I imagined. My mind shifted from only wanting to be a homemaker to the question of how I could become a successful homemaker.
Below is a recount of how I transitioned from the workforce into homemaking. I hope my story and the resources on this website help you realize your homemaking dreams faster than I did. My home is not perfect because only God is perfect, but it is full of love, peace, and joy.
Life with a Newborn
For some people, becoming a homemaker may have come a little easier. For me, homemaking took a lot more work than I had previously imagined. Although my whole life became wonderfully new with a new baby, I felt confused and sensed a loss of control. Although my intentions were good, my practical understanding of loving my husband through our ups and downs lacked. I also wanted to give my baby 110 percent of myself but kept feeling worn down. I did not have prior experience babysitting or a good understanding of the flow of life with young children around. Growing up, I was the youngest child in my family. I also grew up during the 1980s when the baby boom generation of women entered the workforce. They wanted to get away from the stereotype of being homemakers.
According to The Baltimore Sun article in 1993 titled, Women made career strides in 1980s Census data show marked Md. gains, James Bock wrote, “in Maryland, women in the workforce shot up by more than one-third.”
I desired to become a homemaker in the 21st century. The problem was that homemaking was foreign to women in my generation. The typical thing for women was to take six weeks of maternity leave, then return to full-time work.
Please note that I am not saying that working is wrong for women. I love working! I am saying that I did not have a good point of reference for becoming a homemaker. Homemaking blogs were not very popular either. I felt like a minority among my peers at the time.
The Decision for Homemaking
When my husband and I became new parents, we wanted our child to have the best love and care possible. Leaving our newborn with strangers at an all-day daycare was out of the question for us.
I determined to stay home with my new baby but discussed all options with my husband first. We discussed the idea of having a grandparent or sibling watch our child. However, all our parents and siblings worked full-time or had other obligations. Even if one of them could watch our child part-time, they lived too far away. So we discussed the option of me working from home. The problem was, I barely knew how to balance self-care while simultaneously caring for a child. Taking on additional responsibilities with a newborn seemed impossible. Taking a shower at some point throughout the day seemed like a victory to me at the time.
Our last logical discussion was to figure out the home economy. Was it possible for me to quit my job to pursue homemaking and continue our current standard of living? Staying home meant I needed to make all our meals at home. Not having to drive to work daily meant we could save some money on gas. Ultimately, all the small savings together added up to enough to adjust our lifestyle. Our primary sacrifice was that our savings each month was growing at a substantially lower rate.
Improving Our Family Lifestyle:
We believed God would honor our choice to take care of our child with a family-focused lifestyle. After a few months, we began praying for a closer job to home for my husband. He had little time after work to spend with our newborn after commuting and even less time for me. If he worked closer to home, he would have more time with the family and spend less money on gasoline. Living in CA, I’m sure you can imagine how expensive gas prices were.
It was not long, however, that God began to answer our prayers. My husband applied to new jobs, and I supported him in moving, if needed, to improve our lives. Before my child’s first birthday, my husband accepted new employment. We put our condo up for sale and began creating a wish list for our new life. Although we were still down to one income, it would be larger than our present circumstances. The best part was that my husband’s commute went from 3 hours to 30 minutes round trip per day. We had more time for family bonding and sleep. Praise be to God!
Very Ambitious
If I knew then what I know now, my choice for the house we bought next might have been different. We identified our goals for a new home. The proximity to work had to be close-by. The house had to be within our budget. My personal goals included things I thought would be fun as a new homemaker. The show Fixer Upper was popular at the time, and I desperately wanted to give flipping a house a try. I also desired our home to be a peaceful place away from the crowded city. All these goals were accomplished with the purchase of our new house, for better or worse.
We were so excited about the move and all the new changes our family was about to experience. We moved to a new city with our newborn. My husband started work at a new company. After hours I became our interior designer and my husband became our handyman.
My husband strived to fulfill all the expectations of him at work to ensure success for our move. Likewise, I strived to maintain a family-friendly atmosphere in our home while it was under construction. Not to mention, my husband had online classes he was completing. We felt the pressure of all the responsibility attached to this new life, but we did not stop pursuing it.