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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: May 13 2008 at 9:28am | IP Logged
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Extending the discussion still further from this Home Economics thread.
I was thinking about my own daughters today as I read Kim's thoughts about Mothers-Daughters.
I personally hate dust and grime. Shower mold makes me  .
While my attitude in the kitchen is creative and nurturing, I can't claim victory in the other areas of domestic arts.
Can we talk about creating and nurturing the "spirit" of the domestic arts as well as the how-tos of various tasks?
What do you consider a "victory earned" at the end of the day?
Do you reward yourself?
How do you encourage your children to do housework joyfully (or, at least, without a complaining spirit)?
Do you have a Kitchen Madonna? Here are some more showings..
Do you have a daily housework prayer?
Do you have a saintly role model you meditate on during your housework?
What do you tell yourself to motivate your "domestic spirit"?
What blogs inspire your "domestic spirit"?
All this "spirit-talk" has me feeling like Oprah. 
Any other thoughts and questions are most welcome. I have to go listen to a reading lesson right now. 
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Elizabeth
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| Posted: May 13 2008 at 9:44am | IP Logged
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What a great discussion starter, Cay! 
I'd love to come back with a cup of tea later and share lots of thoughts but for now, I will answer your prayer question. I recently found this prayer on the sidebar of The Simple Woman. I think it's just lovely.
A Prayer for Womanhood
God, give each true good woman
Her own small house to keep,
No heart should ache with longing,
No hurt should go too deep.....
Grant her age-old desire:
A house to love and sweep.
Give her a man beside her,
A kind man, and a true,
And let them work together
And love, a lifetime through,
And let her mother children
As gentle women do.
Give her a shelf for dishes,
And a shining box for bread,
A white cloth for her table,
And a white spread for her bed,
A shaded lamp at nightfall,
And a row of books much read.
God, let her work with laughter,
And let her rest with sleep.
No life can truly offer
A peace more sure and deep....
God, give each true woman
Her own small house to keep
~Grace Noll Crowell~
~~~~~~1934~~~~~~
As far as motivating myself, I tell myself it's well worth the bother. Lately, when it's been so hard to stick to all those good habits, I can see three things. 1) The good habits are the underpinning that carries us now when I really am too sick to do this very well. 2) Homemaking takes much time, effort, and intention. It's very obvious, very quickly, when that time and effort are not being taken. 3) After living in an intentionally nurtured, well-kept home for a few months, I find I'm missing it. And it's not only the order I miss; it's the actual work of creating a radiant home.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: May 13 2008 at 10:09am | IP Logged
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When I first got married, my SIL gave me a holy card from the Apostles of Holy Motherhood. It has a simple drawing of Mary sweeping on the front with a poem, "Our Lady of the Broom" on the back:
The large and lovely lessons
You taught with little breath
In the liturgy of labor
In the house of Nazareth
Are such fantastic simple things
That mortals may presume
To call the Queen of Seraphim
Our Lady of the Broom
For you who rule the angels
Built up our legacy
By living a life of little things
That we do every day
You cooked, cleaned, washed and mended
Scrubbed the kitchen floor,
Teaching a world the woman's way
To worship and adore
How beautifully you taught us
Where all perfection lies
By seeing all salvation in
The work before your eyes
Immensity in little space
The world in the humble room
You swept and kept and cared for,
Our Lady of the Broom.
--J. G. Shaw
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: May 13 2008 at 10:17am | IP Logged
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It's been too long since I've meditated on that poem. It really does inspire me--so, thanks for inspiring me to be inspired again!
I have a lot to do in the next couple of days (which I often find paralyzing and so I don't do anything  ), and I need this motivation
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Cheryl
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| Posted: May 14 2008 at 6:45am | IP Logged
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Cay,
I think this is a great topic. It's one that requires some thinking time, for me anyway. My first thought is that the book, Mother's Rule of Life has a whole chapter called The Spirit of the Rule.
I hope that others will share. I'll be back later this week with more thoughts on this. Although I could get distracted. I'm expecting a Mother's Day present called Picture Perfect Childhood to arrive today.
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Cheryl
Wife to Bob ('97)
Mom to Matthew 13, Joseph 11, Sarah 10, Rachel 6, Hannah almost 4 and Mary 1
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MarilynW
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| Posted: May 14 2008 at 6:47am | IP Logged
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Cheryl wrote:
Cay,
I think this is a great topic. It's one that requires some thinking time, for me anyway. My first thought is that the book, Mother's Rule of Life has a whole chapter called The Spirit of the Rule.
I hope that others will share. I'll be back later this week with more thoughts on this. Although I could get distracted. I'm expecting a Mother's Day present called Picture Perfect Childhood to arrive today. |
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I have the same Mother's Day present expected today
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Marilyn
Blessed with 6 gifts from God
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LucyP
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I keep a St Anne medal pinned to my apron and have a madonna and child on the kitchen windowsill. They both help me remember the spiritual side of what I am doing. I have been known to stand there patting the statue or rubbing my medal between my fingers while I contemplate a pile of dishes or a messy room. Those little moments of asking help are always met with a loving response.
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DeAnn M
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| Posted: May 16 2008 at 10:52pm | IP Logged
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I'm trying very hard to nurture my domestic spirit. It's in there...somewhere. If it's at the bottom of my laundry pile, then it'll take me a long time to find it.
I'm the type of person who can make the best schedule in the world. When it comes to actually following a schedule, however, I am really, undisciplined, or unmotivated, or tired? I am perfectionist but not the kind that actually does things perfectly. I'm the kind that says, "If I can't get it done perfectly, then it won't be done at all." That's a difficult mentality to have as a homeschooling mother.
Our priest has been really helpful for me. "Let it go. You have 5 small children and another one on the way...let go any idea of life being and looking perfect." His motto is, "Baby steps" "It's O.K. to be a one-decade-per-night rosary family for a while." Or for housework, it's o.k. to just work on a laundry routine for a while.
Anyway, all of that to say that, yes a I have a somewhat clean, somewhat messy, somewhat disorganized house. I have to learn to be O.K. with that. I loved taking a peek at everyone's household notebooks and routines a while back. I immediately ran out to the scrapbooking store to buy paper that matched my house's color scheme so that I could use it for my notebook. I stopped myself from going any further with it because I knew the more time I committed to making the, "perfect" book and the, "perfect" schedule, the less time I would actually spend cleaning and the less likely I would be to follow this "perfect" schedule. I realize the value of routine and schedule, but I'm just not there yet...maturity-wise. I need to take baby steps.
Here's how I have begun to nurture my domestic spirit:
1) I'm trying to let go of the idea of needing to have a perfect looking house and everything completely clean all at the same time. (We had our house on the market last year. After someone came to look at the house, I would leave the kids in the car and just walk through it, knowing that as soon as everyone came in, it would not be the same. Especially after I brought in all of the laundry baskets and totes full of paper clutter that I stashed in the trunk. ) I'm trying to find a place a happy medium where I can be at peace but leave some mess.
2) I give myself little rewards for completing small tasks...yes this is like a child, but I'm O.K. with that. If I get the laundry folded and put away, I will spend 10 min. on the computer. If I get the dishes unloaded and kitchen clean, then I have a small piece of chocolate. I'll continue with by baby steps until the actual clean house is the reward. I'm gradually doing this with my kids too, so that when I do make my schedule, they will be familiar with the tasks at hand.
3) I've stopped buying organizational books...I have way too many. I think I was hoping for that one key or one system that would tip me over the edge and help me to change my ways. It's like weight loss...there is no magic key. You just have to do it, a little at a time.
Lastly. I love this prayer from, "Holiness for Housewives"
Prayer When Exausted by Housework
"Lord, I am sick to death of making beds, cleaning, and all of the other jobs that go into keeping this household together. Grant me a clearer sense of my vocation to this work so that I may think less of the drudgery and more of the spiritual opportunity that it gives me.
Be with me in the duties of my day; and when, as now, I feel like dropping from fatigue and boredom and I long to be rid of it all, rouse in me a spirit of endurance and greater generosity.
Help me to make more of an effort to model myself on You. The daily work in the house at Nazareth was not without its hardships, and in the work of Your ministry later on, You were both weary and pressed for time. Help me to remember this when I find myself being suffocated by housework."
Great thread. Sorry for babbling so much, but writing this out helped me to see that I am actually nurturing my domestic spirit, even if it is little by little.
God Bless,
DeAnn
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: May 19 2008 at 2:23pm | IP Logged
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I am anxiously awaiting the riches I know these women can share. And ALL of you.  Do join in.
Elizabeth wrote:
| I'd love to come back with a cup of tea later and share lots of thoughts |
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Cheryl wrote:
| I'll be back later this week with more thoughts on this. |
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I'm in this "nurturing home" mode...in a BIG way. It's unbelievably satisfying but it's still unbelievably misunderstood by our society at large.
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: May 19 2008 at 2:27pm | IP Logged
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DeAnn M wrote:
Sorry for babbling so much, but writing this out helped me to see that I am actually nurturing my domestic spirit, even if it is little by little.
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Thank you for babbling and sharing, DeAnn.
I wish everyone would start babbling.  But I'm afraid I haven't had any extra time either,so your post was very pleasant to read over a cup of coffee.
I hope to come back soon with more thoughts.
__________________
Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Nurturing the Domestic Spirit
