5 Reasons I Love Being a Housewife

It takes a genius to be a first-rate housekeeper. -1884

Well, that explains a lot. Mystery solved. Now I know why I still haven’t figured this whole housewifery thing out.

In spite of the fact that I don’t feel as if I’ve mastered this career in the least or that many people see it as an inferior (or not even a legitimate) occupation, I really, really love my job. So why do I like being a housewife? Why is it the best career choice for me?

Hours

 Yes, I’m on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and even on vacation, I’m not really off duty. But, that doesn’t mean I’m working all the time. As long as the tasks get done, the details are up to me. That means I can watch a movie while I dust the living room or fold laundry and I can batch-cook meals to free me up from cooking a few meals. I can even defrost the chest freezer at an odd time of day because I got an impromptu lunch invitation from a friend. (Hello? Friends?!? I’d appreciate an excuse to get out of this job a little longer.)

Flexibility

I can do my shopping at the slowest times, so I never, ever, grocery shop on the weekends or during the after-school/post workday madness. In my small town, I’m also able to avoid the Wednesday senior citizen discount day at the grocery store. So many retirees with so much time on their hands and so much visiting to do…

Happily for me, I’m able to take advantage of weekday garage sales that I might otherwise miss if I had to work during the day for someone else. In my area, most garage sales begin on Thursday or Friday mornings, so by Saturday, things are generally picked over.

My flexible schedule means that when my husband takes a random day off or plans a last minute camping trip, I can drop everything and roll with the changes. When he forgets to take his coffee with him to work, he knows that I can run it into him. And there’s nothing better than being the person that friends know they can call when they get into a jam.

Variety

This is one of my favorite reasons because for me, variety truly brings the spice to my life. The number of different tasks a housewife does is nearly limitless, everything from childcare to budgeting to landscaping to canning. That’s only a sample of what a housewife can do in a single day. I have both physical and mental tasks, so I can change direction whenever I feel the need. I love that every day is different and there is always a new skill or challenge. There’s no such thing as a bored housewife. I may become restless and discontent, but there’s no end of things to be done.

Independence

In many ways, I’m my own boss. Of course, my home is my husband’s, too. He doesn’t have many opinions about domestic affairs unless I get him involved and ask for his help or opinion. As long as he has clean clothes and relatively organized home with regular meals, he doesn’t get caught up in the details. 

So that leaves me an independent manager. While I have a variety of jobs to do, I can also tailor this career to my interests. Some housewives never have a garden, but keep an immaculate house and make all their own clothes. Others struggle with organization but know the best frugal shopping tips. I’ll never have weed-free flower beds but I love to experiment with new recipes. It’s a choose your own adventure kind of life, not in a super adventurous, life-on-the-edge kind of way, but I do what I can…

Satisfaction

I was once elected to head up an organization and while it was a volunteer position, it was a job in nearly every way, minus a paycheck. I struggled and fought to make some badly needed changes to the organization. While I successfully implemented the changes, I eventually moved on and left the organization. However, so did the crabbies, who would have preferred to see the group dissolve than change.  I learned a lot and accomplished what needed to be done, but my efforts have been long forgotten by the group and came at the expense of my mental health.

One thing I learned from that experience is that I am happiest putting my energy into what matters most to me. No other job I’ve had in the past has given me the satisfaction that my home has. I don’t need outside affirmation to feel fulfilled. My family has never fallen at my feet in gratitude for clean socks and homemade pickles (at least not so far, anyway). But still, I have the satisfaction of knowing that I’m benefiting the people that will be a part of my life for as long as I’m alive.

Those are my top 5 reasons for loving this housewife gig. Do you have any you’d add?