One of the recurring themes on this blog has been Catholic Homemaking. That is a natural reflection of who I am, this blog is a journal of sorts and an outlet for my rather overactive brain to explore things that are important to me. My husband and I were joking the other day about what a husband wants from a wife, the cliché sex, cooking, cleaning and rearing children was tossed out and we both laughed. I suppose it is the flip side of the idea that women want to marry someone who will be a good provider and a good father. Stereo types, not the whole store, but still relevant in a sense.
A husband and wife are the ultimate sacramental partnership. Together they guide their household. Someone has to do the cooking, cleaning, changing diapers, educating the children, handling the bills and the shopping, bringing home the paycheck or running the business, both partners need security and intimacy. How exactly the day to day work of living breaks down from couple to couple is entirely up to them. I certainly don’t have the answers for everyone — actually I am pretty sure there is no one single answer but I have noticed that people tend to fall into certain groups. The duel income families, the ultra-traditional families, the two-very-independent partners families all seem to have a great deal of trouble relating to one another. Every family has decided on its own prioities and it can be difficult to respect the point of view of others when their priorities are far off from your own.
I would hope that anyone reading this who would flinch at the fact that I often write from a more traditional point of view would realize that this is a reflection of choices that my husband and I made long ago and are very happy with. We have chosen a life style that reflects our priorities and tastes. I certainly wouldn’t say that anyone should agree with me or that if they don’t they are making some grand mistake. And I am sorry, trying to post comments with negative critics on my faith or life style choices are not going to convince me to change my faith or any other aspect of my life.
So I write always from my own perspective. I am Roman Catholic, I am primarily a homemaker, I homeschool four of my children, I have a little cottage business, I keep this blog, I am crazy about my husband and very blessed by my children. Most of what I write is for me. I write to help organize my thoughts, improve my life, record where I have been and occasionally rant about things in the culture around me. I hope you enjoy your visit here.
Simply Catholic 
That’s just it. At least in my armchair study of anthropology, there’s a family structure for just about every group of people out there. If it works for them, why change it? If one person in a partnership has a gift that the other doesn’t, why force the person who’s not gifted to do that particular thing? For instance, the Hoopy Frood isn’t that great at cooking. I don’t mind it. conversely, I hate cleaning, which he doesn’t mind. Superficial examples, but I think every couple works out such things, to some extent.
And whatever happened to the Catholic notion of seeing what seemingly disparate groups hold in common? Feh. Things are needlessly polarized lately. Sorry you’re getting nasty comments…
Thanks Jen,
I don’t think your examples are trivial at all. They are the business of life. We shouldn’t worry that feeding one’s family (cooking) and taking care of one’s possessions (cleaning) are something to be looked at as more lowly or “trivial” than going out and earning a paycheck. It is all worthy and worthwhile work. And certainly something that each couple needs to include in the balance.
Oh, no, trust me, when you’ve had to scrape out the pans that your SO burned, it’s not trivial. 😉 I meant that the things we’ve worked out that work for us were a trivial example of how couples negotiate, not that the things involved were trivial.
*laugh*, I think I would cry. Hope you are having as nice a day as we are here. The weather has finally turned nice… that sun thing keeps coming back.