Vintage Cleaning and Household Videos!!!

I guess some of these videos may come off as sexist to some, but at this time in the world it was just normal for the woman to run the home. In fact, the woman was literally the CEO of the home and ensured that everyone's life ran smoothly. It seems to me more and more women are not just dreaming of returning to the life of a vintage housewife, but are doing it. I'm one of them. I've always been proud to call myself a housewife - aka, stay at home mom. 

Day 1 - 1950s Housewife Experiment Take 2

This morning started out fairly well. I got up, showered, did my hair and makeup and proceeded to make coffee and breakfast. Promptly after breakfast I got to work. Now, while most housewives of that time generally cleaned about 3 hours (their homes were also smaller than ours) they cleaned every day. Since I've let some of my household chores slide a little this cleaning is taking me all damn day. Did I mention I have three teenagers home from school today and tomorrow?

While I originally started out cleaning the basement to some fabulous Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett records, that eventually ended when the first child decided they wanted to watch TV. Okay, cool. Whatever.  I just proceeded to clean, and finally moved upstairs. Have you ever heard the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I think that title works perfectly for mothers. I seriously can not tell you how many times I cleaned the exact same mess, the exact same room, until I finally exploded. The oldest boy had the audacity to ask me why I was mad. I just glared at him, sweating rolling down my forehead, while he munched away on pizza and dropped crumbs all over the table I had just wiped down and the floor I had just swept.

Deep breath in, deep breath out. I broke my own rule at one point and popped onto Facebook to vent. Mothers who lived in that time assured me it was nothing new. However, my best friend's theory is that mothers were able to beat their kids back then. Either way, I can't see my grandma allowing my mom and uncles to constantly make a mess as she cleaned.

Now, on top of trying to be the perfect vintage housewife around three kids I'm also dealing with a now three-legged cat. She was originally a stray who appeared one day and refused to leave. I really didn't want twenty more barn cats so I had her spayed. Well, either some kind of a predator got a hold of her, or she got into the engine of a car and the car was started. Either way, this is Grace now.

*Grace the Wonder Cat has her own Facebook page if you'd like to keep up with her recovery.*

I don't know if you can tell by this pic but she has massive damage to her right hip and rear end, damage to the left side of her face, cuts along her back, and had her right front leg amputated. So, on top of dealing with my normal day to day life, and attempting to live life as close to the genuine 1950s housewife, I've had to play nurse to this little girl. In case you haven't guessed yet, she will now be an inside cat.

I've tried several times to download the pics I've taken through out the day, including pics of my homemade chicken and dumplings I made from my 1954 Betty Crocker's Good and Easy Cookbook.

Sorry for the horrible pic. Took it with my phone,

I had my doubts as not only was this my first attempt at making chicken and dumplings, but it was from an old cookbook. There were so few ingredients for the dumplings, yet they were delicious since they were boiled in the broth made from stewing the chicken.

Sorry I can't post a pic of the actual meal. Stupid laptop! When I figure out where I'm going wrong I'll post, I promise.

Now, on to the rest of the day...I'm freaking exhausted! I swear I'm limping and my back is so sore! The only time I sat today was to fold laundry. Other than that I was on the go non stop. Oh wait, that's not true. I had to sit while driving to find a police officer to unlock my daughter's handcuffs. Yes, you read that correctly. My darling daughter threw her key in a huff, and her brother didn't know that when he locked her wrists in those damn metal contraptions, We were able to get one wrist out with soapy water, but the other was way too tight.

So there's my first day in a nut shell. Not really a failure, but not exactly a success...not in my eyes anyway. My makeup is smeared, and my hair went crazy hours ago. Tomorrow I'm babysitting my nephews for a few hours so I'll just pretend I'm going to my bridge club or whatever they did with the other ladies back then.

Night, y'all. My poor booty needs rest!

1950s Housewife Experiment - Take 2

For those of you who have been following this blog for a while remember my first 1950s Housewife Experience. Well, guess what? I'm doing it again. This time you can find everything on my other blog, I'd Rather Be Blogging. I will be cross posting so nothing will be missed, and this blog will stay up as I plan on continuing with my housewife posts.

In the meantime, enjoy some fun, vintage commercials:

Decluttering my entire life! Wanna join me?

Do you remember that post about my decision to try the Flylady method? Turns out I'm not real good at sticking to only fifteen minutes at a time. While I was putting away my Christmas decorations I realized something: I had way too many decorations that hadn't been used in over two years. So why was I holding onto them?

I have no idea!

While I was looking at my excess of...well, Everything, we had yet another flood from a backed up pipe. Turns out there was a bundle of roots growing in there. I digress. While these guys are walking through my basement I caught myself continuously apologizing for "the mess". There really is no reason my house should look like this every day! I clean from 6am until at least 8pm! Yet, no matter how hard I work there's always a mess!!!! Why? That's right - WAY TOO MANY BELONGINGS!

I spent over twelve hours yesterday purging anything and everything that I either a) didn't love b) didn't have a current function, or c) hadn't been used in at least a year. I've lost count of how many bags have gone either into my car to be donated or thrown into the garbage. Really, Christy? You need to hang onto things that "you might fix some day"? Oh don't worry, I promise to post pictures of my very full car before my first trip to our local thrift shop.

While I was going through every nook and cranny in the basement, I had the boys go through their clothes and pick out their favorite 10 outfits each. The rest is going out the door! If you realized how many pieces of clothing they had in their rooms, and how many they didn't wear or didn't fit you'd totally understand! lol My daughter's room is next, although she doesn't have nearly as many as the boys. She's been growing so fast I'm constantly having to buy her new pants to keep her from looking like Michael Jackson in the 80s! Last will be mine and the husband's closet. Mine will be easy because I'm slowly changing my wardrobe over to reflect the 40s and 50s, so anything that doesn't work, or I don't wear on a regular basis is GONE!!!

Once the basement is finished I'll move up to the kitchen and purge all those little butter containers, the tupperwear with no lids, all those extra plates and cups (my sister already asked for those! lol), etc. I'll keep you all updated as this little project moves along!

The husband and I have decided once this is all done I'm going to reward myself by redoing the basement...in a 50s remake! Seriously! I'm going to make my basement look like a 50s house! I'm so excited and have already started looking at paint colors.

Alright ladies and gents...who's with me? Who is willing to take this little challenge and completely declutter your lives? We can all keep each other accountable and on track! Feel free to post pics or leave comments as to your progress.

Morals, Values, and the Modern World

Okay, so I wore a dress, hose, and heels in public Wednesday. I then had to work Thursday and Friday (washing dogs for a grooming salon), therefore, I wore ratty jeans, an old T-shirt, and my worst tennis shoes. Trust me when I say there's absolutely no way to dress up at that job. However, Friday was my last day. I was only working part-time for the holidays, both for extra money for my family and to help out the owner of the grooming shop who just happens to be my best friend in the whole world.

Today, I'm currently wearing a pair of pants (not jeans, but not slacks either) and an inside out sweatshirt. I have so much "dirty" work to do I just couldn't stomach the thought of ruining any of my nice clothes. I have yet to purchase or make a sturdy day dress to do my housework, so my work clothes will have to do for now. But, when I've finally obtained the sturdy feminine wear, I will be wearing them, even when I'm only writing. (Did I mention I'm an author and work from home?)

Several times now I've attempted the old school hairstyles. I've learned a couple things from these attempts - women kept their hair shorter because it takes forever to style, and women only washed their hair a couple times a week because it takes forever to style! I don't own curlers so I've had to use a curling iron. I recently bought sponge rollers, but after ten hours my damp hair was still damp. I had no desire to sleep in those things, so I rolled my hair and pinned them. Unfortunately, I twisted the hair while rolling it and it came out looking very 80s hair band video. The hair went into a braid for the day, but at least it was more than my daily pony tail. Yep, I wear my hair in a pony tail every day, whether my hair is long or short, or it's hot or cold outside. I don't generally wear makeup because, well frankly, I usually only see the dog, chickens, and iguana throughout the day. My thought process was 'who cares?', but I realized something....I should care. I should care how I look to both myself and my wonderful husband. After he works ten to twelve hours a day doesn't he deserve to come home to a clean house, a hot, home cooked meal, and a beautiful, pulled together wife?

I've seen so many comments on that old Good Housekeeping article, you know the one, where women ridiculed this thought process. Why? Wasn't part of the women's suffrage that we should be able to choose whether we wanted to work or not? Why is my choice to serve my husband and make sure I'm the one raising my kids instead of a daycare considered bad, antiquated, and less of a woman? I'm fully aware it's not always possible for a woman to stay at home, I was one of them after my divorce, but if both parents don't have to work, why shouldn't you have the joy of knowing you instilled your values and your morals into your child instead of letting the world dicate who they'll become?

Okay, so today is Saturday, Christmas is Tuesday. Starting....tomorrow (remember, I have a lot of dirty work today) my face and hair will be done, and I will be wearing clothes not fit for a mechanics shop. I will strive to be more like the 1950s wife we all have read about, and some have ridiculed me. No, this isn't an experiment, rather a way to improve our lives as a family.