SOAPBOX SUNDAY

bread dough and marinara sauce

Hooray for Domesticity

As I've gotten older and now have a family, I've come to care more about the things that come into our home.  This includes cleaning products, food, entertainment, etc.  And I've come to the conclusion that simpler is better.

Of course, simpler is also more complicated.  I would like to just buy convenient everything, hire people to do my stuff, and forget it.  EXCEPT...

I CAN'T PRONOUNCE MANY OF THE INGREDIENTS IN CONVENIENCE FOODS
More specifics on this later, but basically, if I can't pronounce it, it's not real food.  I'm not judging the convenience food buyer...we all do what we have to do.  But it's a decision that we as a family made, and we're sticking to it.  However, because of that, I make stuff from scratch.  It takes time and planning.  And recipes.

I HAVE A TODDLER.  And she gets into everything, of course.  We're at the learning limits stage.  I don't want to constantly worry that she is going to somehow get into the hazardous chemical cabinet that is our cleaning supplies.  So I make my own.  It takes time and planning.  And empty spray bottles.

I AM NOT CURRENTLY WORKING OUTSIDE THE HOME.  So there's not really a good reason why I can't do this stuff myself.

But the best reason of all:

MY KIDDOS DON'T LIKE THE "CONVENIENT" STUFF.  Since we were moving, I was buying a lot more easy meal kinds of things.  Two nights in a row, my boys didn't like what we were eating (tomato soup and spaghetti, respectively), because it was too sweet.  They prefer the soup and sauce I make.  And the bread.

I am not Mrs. Sally Homemaker.  I like to work outside the home, and I hope to work here a little.  And we still buy our fair share of yummy processed foods, so don't peg me for a hypocrite.  But since I've made the decision to spend time making sauces and cleaners and breads from scratch, it's working out for us.  I feel good about the things my kids eat, I don't worry about them ingesting poison, and I make our own convenience foods.

So, let's hear it for getting old and domestic.  Hip, hip, hooray!