Job Description of a Homemaker

Introduction;
As time goes on since writing this article it amazes me how mothering can be a full time job in itself, and how homemaking can also be a full time job in itself. Sometimes it takes wisdom and prayer to know what to put first throughout the course of a day, and Praise to God Almighty for helping to fill in the gaps! I often find that just about every time I think I am caught up, the truth is that I am just not realizing what more there is to do (perhaps I am just to tired to)!

I know that many women who are successful homemakers swear by the trusty “daily list making” and for me there is no other way! I have found that for myself, the day planner of which I once thought was only for the flashy career woman is particularly quite a sanity saver for me! It is so nice because it helps to plan out the weeks work ahead while prioritizing to an extent, it keeps me from forgetting things, helps me stick to a schedule, and when the days and weeks are up I can look back and see all I did get done instead of only all that there is left to do.

I think so many homemakers often feel so tired and overworked because with an outside job you get time off, whereas with this job you wake up at work and go to bed at work. Therefore, your mind seldom finds a break because it is always literally at work!

Truthfully though, is there any other job that exists with such rewarding benefits in the long run? I think not! From what I have observed, the better job a woman does in this “line of work” the more rewards there are someday and personally I would take this over an outside job with some fancy title any day of the week!

With that said, I would like to add that there are four reasons for which I took the time to write this composition;

1. For my husband. I wanted him to have an idea of what I do while he is hard at work, so that he would be proud of me and confident I was making the most of my time at home as a homemaker.

2. As an encouraging account for myself and other women with this job, because as we all know it can be quite overwhelming at times and even harder to see the glamor in it at others!

3. Also as encouragement for homemakers who are perhaps new to the job or young, and maybe don’t realize all that they can be in their new job.

4. For those who would criticize a woman for having the following job, or who don’t realize all that true-or aspiring Proverbs 31 women have on their plates (although there are few people out there like that anymore).

So, without further a due, I give you…

Job Description of a Homemaker
(The ambition challenged need not apply!)
Author of Job Description is aware the writing is not all conclusive.

Positions: Wife, Mother, Homemaker
Hours: Must be available, on call, around the clock
Credentials: Must be patient, loving, and a multitasker. A sense of humor is also helpful.

Position 1. Wife
1. Caring for husband

• Loving him
• Mending his clothes ect… (Like I am one to talk on this one…)
• Giving him his vitamins
• Massages after a long hard day’s work if necessary
• Making him healthy, good meals

2. Listening well to him when he opens up to talk
3. Attempting to keep appearance nice for him 4. Running errands and doing jobs he asks to have done
5. Secretary work if he so desires, (this can be quite involved if he has his own business)
6. Making sure environment is peaceful for him to come home to (i.e. clean house, supper ready, etc)
Always remember, his work makes all three of your job positions possible.
Position 2. Mother
1. Caring for children

• Loving them
• Cooking healthy good meals
• Mending their clothes
• Giving them their vitamins
• Bathing them

2. Nurturing and Training, this may take anywhere from 2 to 24 hours a day depending on age and number of children one has, (for example it can take up to 24 hours of nurturing during teething or sick seasons)!

• Mending hurts, emotional and physical
• Training between right and wrong
• Disciplining (this is different from training)

3. Home Schooling (if children are at that age), this may take up to 8 hours a day or more, this is one area where multitasking comes in handy
4. If you have a toddler, changing diapers (and washing if using cloth ones)
Position 3. Homemaker

1. Meals

• Planning healthy meals
• Making shopping lists
• Shopping &
• Cooking

2. Seasonal Jobs

• Planting in spring
• Gardening all summer
• Harvesting and food preservation in fall
• Winter proofing in the fall

3. Keeping the house

• Spring and fall deep cleaning (some women do a monthly deep cleaning/reorganizing…this is actually more necessary for those who have small homes because to maintain space and avoid clutter a lady must be in a constant mode of “in with the new~out with the old”. In other words, as odd as it sounds, if you come across a small, well kept house in which children live, you can bet it has one extra busy homemaker!
• Weekly housecleaning
• Daily upkeep (like cleaning the mud off the entry ways everyday that people bring track in with shoes, this is just one example, ask nearest woman for more!)
• Laundry
• Paying bills and filing important papers

4.Charity work (i.e. helping someone in need, baking and/or making gifts for others.)
5. Additional duties often performed in this job include;

• Seamstress
• House doctor & nurse, may have to help others outside of the family too
• Landscaper
• Bookkeeping (budget managing and planning)
• Educating self (for example, reading pertinent data that will benefit the family and home (such as the Bible, as well as health & home improvement information)
• Not all women do the following, but a growing number of industrious women aspiring to be like the Proverbs 31 woman choose to either start a business or join their husbands in their business in order to help their husbands and bring in some extra income. These women obviously have added responsibilities and have to be extra careful with prioritizing so as not to neglect their family’s needs.

There are the extra activities such as correspondence (phone time, letter writing time, email time, etc…) and extra leisure activities and hobbies (such as playing instruments for women who are also musicians or painting for those who are artists and so on). These are not included in the job description because unless they are necessary (e.g., writing a thank you note or putting a gift together) most women save them for their free time, or to be fit in at the same time as other jobs if possible and necessary.

The job of a Wife/Mother/Homemaker requires full time plus overtime. Many women in this line of work shamefully do not take their job seriously, and therefore give other women in the line of work a bad name. A Proverbs 31 woman has no choice but to plan ahead, wisely deciding what is important to spend time on, what is not, and what should wait.