Domestic Days for Undomestic Gals

Meet Kallie. Kallie is my partner in crime. We both fall in the category of college educated women turned full time stay at home moms. To be on the serious side for a minute, it’s tough. Like many women it was a personal choice to set my career aside at a young age and turn towards family. Staying home has never been a choice I regretted, it has been a blessing in my life, but I have struggled with it. More I have struggled with what defines my character. I grew up in a culture where women worked next to their husbands, where no job was to big or dirty. Women were the oxen that kept farms and small business running. I can specifically remember being 14 years old and my mom thinking she tricked me told me I had the option of doing dishes (20 minutes) or spending a full day helping my dad do manual labor…before she completed her thought my boots were laced and I was out the door. For me freedom was measured in progress and exhaustion.

I learned to love manual labor; I learned to really love building fence. I went on to study Landscape Architecture, which kept me playing in the dirt and worked for The Nature Conservancy which, even better I got to play with not only dirt, but with chainsaws and fire. I graduated six months pregnant and moved from the life I knew.

With a blink of an eye I found myself in the southern suburbia. Kids came, mortgages were obtained and before I knew it I was a mother of one, then two and now three carpooling to school in my gold minivan and cultural upbringing had little place in this new environment.

So what does a Midwest farm girl that can out work most grown men the state of Texas do nowadays? I hang with Kallie and we make attempts to be domestic and have some fun while doing it. It has become a creative outlet, I figure I am doing the stay at home thing, might as well expand my horizons. We always have some bright idea that in the midst of application becomes a fiasco but in the end works out.

So this months project was aprons. We both have aprons from the 1950’s that we love, better coverage, sexier and more practical than the ones you see today. And I cook everyday (if you have ever seen me cook, you know I need an apron). Plus I need something to make me feel cute when I have not showered in two days and am wearing a t-shirt and shorts.

I was at Hobby Lobby a few weeks back and they had their patters on sale for $1.00. We decided to give it a shot. Five hours later we were still stuck on the pocket. After a night on Skype with Kallies mom we got it figured out and the rest of the project went smoothly. So now we are proud owners of some handmade aprons. With a few tweakings I think I will make another one.

So my mother would be proud, I actually used my sewing machine for something other than hemming my pants. So what is next on the schedule? Any ideas?