3 Reasons Why Being A Homemaker Doesn’t Come Naturally To (Most) Millennials

Disclaimer –

This post may strike a nerve with anyone and everyone, but I’m speaking as a millennial and mostly to my millennial peers. According to pewresearch.org, “Anyone born between 1981 and 1996 (ages 23 to 38 in 2019) is considered a Millennial”.

I also understand that many ladies choose to work outside the home and some others may not be able to afford to stay home right now, this post may not be for you. This post is mainly for those who are currently stay-at-home or work-from-home wives and mothers and those who long to be in this role someday.

Hello again, long time no see!

I took about a month off from this blog in order to focus more on my family, growing my YouTube channel, and growing our first garden. This blog and my University courses went to the back burner for a little while. But I’m back and hoping to upload at least one post per week for this blog.

I’m excited to bring you guys this post. It feels good to be back since I did take a little break for a couple of weeks while getting my YouTube channel up and running!

~ Here’s My Latest Video ~

Thank you so much for being here at Roots & Arrows Homestead.

The thought has crossed my mind recently of changing our name to Roots & Arrows Home but that would involve so much behind-the-scenes managing that it hardly seems worth it. So, we’re going to stick with Homestead for the time being. I’ve actually done a lot of research around what makes a homestead a homestead and I’ll talk more about that topic HERE!

For this post

I want to focus on why I think homemaking might not come naturally to us millennials and how we can buckle down and focus on honing our skills to take better care of our homes and our families. It is important to understand that the world we’re living in today is very different from that of our grandparents. It’s also important to understand that the future 30 years will bring a lot of changes with it as well. But there are some things that will stand the test of time. One of those things, I believe, is homemaking.

Whether you live in an apartment alone or you live in a large home with 5 kids, you want to take care of your home. Sadly, some people were never taught some of the simple tasks that taking care of the home entail. This, I believe is one of the biggest downfalls in our society these days.

First

The first reason that I think homemaking might not come naturally to us as millennials is that it wasn’t really modeled for us. For most of us, we watched a lot of TV. Not that all TV is bad, but it is a set, there are actors and scripts that those actors follow. It was never meant to mirror reality, not really. Think about the “TV mothers” Lucille Ball, the Fresh Prince mom, Lorelai Gilmore, etc. These were all examples of mothers that I personally grew up watching. Of course, there were some dads too. Like Full House, where Danny somehow maintained a full-time fancy career and a spotless home. There isn’t one example that I can think of where a wife or mother, or father for that matter, stayed home full-time and/or worked from home. It just didn’t exist.

For most of us, both parents worked outside the home because that’s what had to be done. Since that was happening, dishes and clothes would build up in the sink and laundry rooms. Then the weekends would become cleaning frenzies instead of quality family time.

I’m not knocking anyone’s parents, but that’s just the way it was for most of us. In order to pay the bills and keep food on the table, that’s the way most of our parents had to do it. I do wonder, how many of our parents would’ve taken advantage of working from home if it had been such a valid option 20-30 years ago as it is now?

Second

The second reason that I think homemaking might not come naturally to us as millennials is that we don’t treat it like a job. When we choose to become homemakers, we’re taking that role on as our job. But if we wake up and stay in our pajamas all day then how are we taking our job seriously? I’m not saying you have to get all dolled up every day, Lord knows I don’t. But even just changing into workout clothes, or a t-shirt and jeans can make you feel more put together and ready to take on the day.

One of my favorite YouTube/Blogger Mamas is Angela Braniff from This Gathered Nest. In one of her recent videos, she talks about cultivating a “Mom Uniform”. I think this is a wonderful idea!

Do you intentionally get dressed each morning even if you’re just staying home all day?

We may not have a traditional “boss” but, Ladies, God is our boss. Colossians 3:23 tells us “Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people” (HCSB/CSB).

Do your job enthusiastically, praising God all the way.

Third

Maybe we aren’t being supported by the outside world. Parents, in-laws, friends, and even siblings, can sometimes not see the value in a woman choosing to stay home instead of work outside the home. This is something that is very personal to me as I have been on the receiving end of harshness and unsupportiveness in my decision to work-from-home.

It can really be confusing sometimes. Working outside the home means shipping your kids off for someone else to take care of them for two-thirds of their life. But then, working from home means neglecting your kids or “being selfish” when you sit down to work.

The bottom line. -> You will never (EVER) please everyone.

Someone will view you as being a lazy person, and others may think of you as uneducated or unable to get a job outside the home. There may be the ones, like your in-laws, who see you as unwilling to contribute to the household income – expecting your husband to carry the financial burden on his own.

Then there are the oh-so-comfortable complete strangers who are very quick to offer their opinion. “Send your kids to the school. That’s what the school is for.” And “There’s no way you can provide that kind of interaction and diverse learning experiences for your children.” Or my favorite, “If you send the kids to school for the whole day, then what’s stopping you from getting a real job?”

I suppose you can tell that I’ve received my fair share of outside opinions when it comes to my decision to stay home over the past several years. Honestly, part of me truly feels that my time is dwindling to prove that I can stay home and earn some sort of income. My babies are still babies, yet time is just flying.

I’ve been trying to grow a blog, trying to grow a YouTube channel, trying to finish my English: Creative Writing degree as well as my Interdisciplinary Studies: Religion, Education & Behavioral Science degree. Trying to homeschool my oldest, which will be coming to an end soon per my husband’s final decision. All I do is work.

Wow.

Reason 3 got away from me a little bit. But there it is. The Top 3 Reasons Why I Think Homemaking Doesn’t Come Naturally For Millennials.

I made a half-hearted joke the other day, I said in a response to my sister, “I feel like I wake up tired these days.” In the seconds that followed, my heart sank at the realization of just how true that statement was. Am I alone?

As promised, here are three things I believe we should all do in order to gain a firm footing in our roles as homemakers and work-from-home mothers.