Becoming a 50's Housewife - Phase 1

The 50's.

When I think of the 1950's (which occurred 30 years before I was born) I think

of strong family values, traditional family roles and the beginning of our modern lifestyle.

I think of modern conveniences beginning to become popular and available to all households.

Things like refrigerators, televisions and great big fancy cars.

I think of the perfect Wife.

A devoted Mother to her children with a spotlessly clean house. 

Who spends her days baking, organizing and smiling.

It's a really beautiful picture I have in my head really.

And that picture mostly comes from all the advertising that still exists from the era.

Then I read an article that was posted in my Facebook feed.

Sadly I can no longer locate the article and so cannot share it here for you to read for yourself.

My summary: The article was about a Wife and Mother who worked from home.  She decided to spend the day as she thought a 50's wife would.  She wrote that the average 50's woman spent 2 hours a day cleaning and noted that it would be impossible to have a full time job and fulfill that many hours of daily cleaning.  The 50's wife would vacuum, mop and sweep all floors everyday.  She would dust and do laundry every day.  She would clean the bathrooms, make the beds and cook from scratch every day.  Not to mention the fact that the 50's wife walked most everywhere (as families had only one vehicle).  A 50's wife would walk the children to school then walk to the store everyday for the few groceries she needed for the day.  Refrigerators were just becoming popular so many families did not have the ability to store food long term.

What I took away from the article was that cleanliness was of vital importance.  Also that a housewife of that era had a very small carbon footprint.  She wasted very little (time or money) and was very focused in her duties.  When I read this article I saw a woman who had great value and great purpose.  It really struck a chord with me.

It really got me thinking about how I spend my time as a 2010's Wife and Mother.  And it made me feel very lazy.  I have let cleaning slip to a very low priority now that I have three children.  I felt justified in my house looking less than perfect.  As I look around my house and am dismayed by the mess (the thin layer dust, the unwashed floor under the kitchen table and the hand prints on the walls and windows to be specific) I think that it would take a huge effort to keep it 50's housewife clean.  After all I need to be able to sit and read my Facebook feed every afternoon.  Right?

So.  

I decided.  

After being inspired by this article to work harder and get my house in order.  And get myself in order (to have a modern take on a 50's housewife style).  And become focused and feel I am adding value to my family.  

Yes.  

I liked these thoughts and ideas.  

I liked this experiment!  

First. I asked Jon.  What did he think about my idea to experiment and become more like a 50's housewife?  He said, "Yes.  I want you to meet me at the door wearing a dress and bright red lipstick."  Obviously he had his own ideas of a typical 50's housewife.  I had thought mainly about the cleaning up until this point.  I answered, "And high heels?"  He said, "Yes."  Which is hilarious if you know me!  I wear fake crocs at home most of the time.  Slippers are too hot but fake crocs are soft underfoot.  I'm sure real crocs are nice too, I just own fake ones.  I told Jon I could see if I could find some flats to wear around the house.  He seemed okay with that.

My husband was on board!

Second.  I needed a plan.  I found this website that had posted a 50's housewife cleaning schedule.  I was very excited to get started!  My plan was to start Monday morning and get cleaning.  I gleaned from these articles that the first few days were going to be difficult as I was not already cleaning every day.  I had some catching up to do.  And that was going to take time.  I was ready!

The Rules  (made up my me)

1. Clean the house every day (max. 2 hours).  To include dusting, sweeping, vacuuming and mopping along with my regular daily chores of making beds, doing laundry and the dishes.  Tough.

2. Make all food at home.  Have balanced meals with homemade desserts.  This is easier as I mostly do this already. 

3.  Adopt a 50's housewife style.  Start wearing more skirts and dresses along with doing my hair and makeup everyday.  I try to do my hair and makeup everyday already, though not always.  Wearing dresses and skirts may be difficult given that it is almost winter.

4. Walk.  Lots of walking! Complete most errands by walking.  I try to walk many places during the day to save on the cost of gas.  I want to walk more places during this experiment.

Monday

Yes most folks despise Monday but I was enthusiastic.  I tackled all my jobs with gusto!  But first, what to do with Maude?  I was going to be trying to clean the whole house in one day (not a task I normally do unless Jon is home to watch the kids.  Read: take them outside).  So I set her up with a video she likes and got to work!

In the morning I got the vacuuming and sweeping done.  I was also able to clean our two bathrooms and give the tub a good scrub.  It was definitely going to take me a bit of time to catch up.  I was also to complete all the mopping and dusting and laundry in that time.  I had also almost maxed out my two hours of daily cleaning in just one morning!  I was also able to clean out the fridge, empty the garbage cans, and clean the kid's toy room.

Monday: Still not dusted.  Must do tomorrow!

I was pleased that I was able to bake bread, two pizzas from scratch for supper and a pumpkin pie for dessert.

I also walked to a neighbor's house to deliver some items.

I was proud of what I had accomplished and LOVED that my house was much cleaner.  But in order to accomplish all these things I had had my children watch alot of tv.  Too much tv.  I had to figure out how to get everything done without my work affecting the children so much.  They need me to spend time with them too.

Tuesday

I was still excited and gung-ho!  Though I'd had a bad sleep as Maverick had been sick through the night.  He stayed home from school today which added more to-dos to my list.  Thankfully he was able to play with his sister which meant she wasn't watching tv all morning again.

I was much faster at vacuuming and sweeping so I was able to empty the dishwasher and get the dusting done.  I realized I need to wake up earlier in order to get all the vacuuming done I wish to do as it is much easier to vacuum when the kids are still in bed and their toys are still put away.

A long-time friend whom I hadn't talked to in months called.  It was lovely to talk again but it did take away from the time I had to get all my cleaning done.

I walked to the post office with Maude and Maverick in our double stroller.  The round trip took an hour to complete!  I didn't realize the post office was so far away!!  I will need to find a closer post office (they often have them in the corner of a pharmacy).  I will add that to a future to-do list.

I washed the walls, cleaned the windows, cleaned the bathrooms, and did a load of laundry.

I made homemade soup for supper, walnut squares for dessert and baked two banana loaves (in order to use up some bananas that were getting old)

I was happy for all that I had accomplished.  I worked hard through the day to make time for the kids.  But that meant that many chores were left to the end of the day.  I worked right through until bedtime.  That left no time to be spent with my husband.  A 50's housewife did not neglect her husband!  I phoned my Gram (who was herself a housewife in the 50's) and asked her how she did it all.  She told me that she only cleaned when necessary (mopping maybe 3 times a week) and she wore pants all day.  She didn't put on a skirt until my Grampa came home.  Ha!

Wednesday

I woke up early (after a poor sleep.  Maverick is still sick.  How did 50's wives handle things when their children were up several times through the night?) and got the vacuuming done.  I swept and dusted.  

I walked to the bulk food store and the dollar store.  The trip took over an hour round trip.  My back was starting to ache from pushing two kids in the stroller up and down hills for such a long time.

I did laundry, completed several unfinished jobs, and put items away that had been sitting out for weeks.

I made meatless spaghetti for supper and didn't get a dessert made.  Thankfully we had pie and squares still left over from the nights before.  I started to fall asleep in my spaghetti at the supper table.  Jon sent me upstairs to bed where I napped for 30 minutes.

I realized that I was becoming obsessed with a clean house.  I was starting to get angry with the kids for any little crumb they left behind.  I realized this was the wrong mentality.  This was not the 50's housewife I had imagined.  I decided to give grace to my kids and to myself.  If I didn't get it all done, that was going to be okay.  If my kids spilled, that was going to be okay.

Thursday & Friday

Not only was Maverick still sick Thursday and Friday but I had all the kids Friday as it was a snow day and buses were cancelled.

I continued waking early to get my vacuuming done.  I emptied the dish washer, swept and mopped the floors.  I was doing so well with laundry that I was able to take Friday off.  I had no laundry to do!  I cleaned the bathrooms on Thursday but was unable to do so on Friday.

I drove to where I needed to go as I was exhausted and my back needed a break.  I did not walk.  

I made homemade meals, and granola bars.

I spent more time with my kids making Christmas ornaments, reading with them and teaching them songs.  On Friday night we went downtown to our city's tree lighting festival.  I suggested we walk but Jon decided it was too cold to take the kids that far outside.  He was right.

I am so pleased to have a beautiful home!

Results

As with any experiment you need to record the results.  

I found that I sometimes push myself too hard.  That sometimes I created unrealistic expectations of myself and that I need to give myself some grace.  

I discovered that I LOVE having my house clean.  I am going to work very hard next week to streamline my cleaning routine.  I want to be able to have a clean home (what I deem to be clean) everyday.  I want to be able to invite anyone to my house, on any day, and be happy and proud with what they'll see on the inside. 

 I also found that I NEED to walk every day.  Although I was exhausted on the days when I walked over an hour, I was so happy those days.  I need to get outside and have fresh air fill my lungs.  Doing an errand and getting a walk in at the same time is a great way to multi-task.  I save on gas, I get my to-do list done and I'm exercising all at the same time!

Phase 2

Next week:

1. Continue following the rules outlined above.  Focus more on rule number 3 (which I mostly ignored this week).

2. Look up fashions and hairstyles for the 50's.  Find what I like and what will work for me and my budget.  Raid my own closet.  

3.  Add sewing, mending and ironing to my list of things to do.

4.  Add spiritual goals to my list of things to do (such as Bible reading, prayer and verse memorization).

So this is how I'm trying to become a 50's housewife!

What is your vision of a wife from this era?

Do you know anyone who was a housewife in the 50's?

What stories have been passed down to you?

Please let me know your thoughts and ideas by leaving a comment below

or here on my Facebook page.

Happy thoughts,

Maeven