So apparently there’s this new book out on French parents, and how they raise their kids – ooh la la – so much better than we dumb Americans.

Granted, the average trip to the grocery store emphasizes that there are a lot of brats out there, but there don’t have to be, and they don’t have to be our kids.

“French children, unlike American children, eat whatever is put in front of them,” we are told, which is impressive since the French eat snails, but maybe, sautéed and breaded, snails taste like chicken. (Am I stereotyping here? Maybe, but isn’t it a stereotype as well that all American children are picky eaters?)

Your kids can eat what’s put in front of them, too, and while it’s not a fail-safe, 100 per cent sure method, here are a few steps to ensure that they do:

1. If they don’t like what’s on the table, give them two choices: what’s on the table or an acceptable alternative (we always chose a banana) that is not a separate meal of its own. If they’re hungry enough, they’ll eat.
2. Once the meal is over, it’s over, and there’s no food or appealing snack (other than the banana) until next time.
3. Provide soups, stews, stir fries, casseroles and other “jumbled together” fare as opposed to meat/starch/vegetables in separate compartments in their trays. When dreaded food, like vegetables, are incorporated into the whole dish, they’re less easy to pick out and discard. Through the years, we’ve noticed that our children’s friends who eat the American style meats and potatoes with boiled grey vegetables languishing on the side, are more picky.
4. Cook from scratch more, as opposed to opening cans, boxes, and tubes. The sodium, sugar, and artificial flavorings of packaged food deaden the taste buds to the taste of real food.
5. Don’t cook one way for yourself, and one way for the kids. Eat right and eat well, both generations.

Are All American Kids Picky Eaters?, from The Homemakers Magazine

One of the first items I noticed at our museum was a very large, circular metal item hanging from the ceiling on hooks.  It looked like a dish with a very large rim.  I was new to the position, and asked the former Curator what the heck it was. Imagine my astonishment when I was told it was a bathtub.

It’s tin, and approximately three feet across with a small seat area indented into the rim. In the center is a small bowl area about 10 inches deep that held about 5 gallons of water.

Bathing in the Past

I tried to go back in time and imagined myself sitting on that rim, soap in hand and ready to enjoy my bath.  Of course, the water was heated elsewhere, probably on a wood-stove and carried to the spot where the tub was. Chances are, the water was hand-pumped in the yard, or drawn up with a bucket. The water needed to be heated, but watched carefully so as to not boil. This chore alone would probably heat me up enough to need a bath.

After carefully pouring this precious heated liquid into the center of the bath, I would need to undress quickly in order to enjoy the warmth of the water. I remembered suddenly about all the old dresses and shirtwaists that I had seen through the years, and realized that the many hooks and stays would definitely need to be undone prior to the pouring of the water or I’d be washing in cold liquid.

So now my reverie begins over.  This time I am undoing all the hooks first, but keeping my body covered at all times in case a visitor pops in for tea while I heat the water. I’m now thinking that this bath would be held off until darkness and I once again play through these steps in my mind, getting it in the right order.

Finally I’ve managed to undress and pour the warm water. Once again, I sit; soap in hand and wonder, “Where do I begin”?  My feet would be filling the small bowl, and my rump on the seat. Washing my face and neck would have to be first, although when I think of my feet sitting in that water, I begin to be very thankful for large modern tubs.

Women at the turn of the century, when this type of bath-tub was used, most usually had very long hair. Cutting it during a lifetime wasn’t common.  No running water and no conditioner or shampoo as we know it, would make for a very tedious day of hair care. So, now I picture my hair pinned up as I sit on the metal tub; this is a bath day, hair washing will have to wait.

There would probably be candles lit, though not for the calming effect that we use them for today. The candles would not have flowery, sweet aromas coming from them; they would be for light only. And unless it was summertime, a long, relaxing hot bath would be out of the question. The seat makes sure that the bather isn’t sitting around too long anyways. Hard cold tin, only a few gallons of water in the tub, at maybe mid shin depth does not sound inviting.

The brisk bath is over.  Hurriedly, I would reach for my drying towel and once again I’m brought back to the present knowing that the me in the past would surely be grabbing a much smaller towel. This towel would be made of rough cloth, probably linsey-woolsey rather than the large terrycloth ones we are so accustomed to.  This bath is becoming more unpleasant by the minute. I’m thinking now of the lack of lotions, perfumes or nail polish to complete things. Instead, I’m just buttoning back up in my dull black dress getting all covered up to start the chores of dumping bath water and putting my things away.

I know that the Me from the past would probably feel so fresh and clean after all this work. Glad to have the water heated to just the right temperature, glad to have some lye soap to remove all the hard work of the day. The Me of today on the other hand is glad to just turn on that tap of hot water, lay back with some bubbles and pull the plug when I am done.

Oh, How Baths Have Changed, from The Homemakers Magazine

The world I envisioned as a child for myself while watching “Little House on the Prairie” has finally come true.  My dream to go back in time to a simpler place has taken root now in my ability to cut back and live as simply as possible. No more worrying that my car isn’t as new as the others in the parking lot. No more concern that what I’m wearing might not be as cutting edge as the other girls in the office.

Living 14 miles from the nearest town on a quiet, dead end road, with 3 acres of woods, the Laura Ingalls in me is out and proud.  Learning over the last 6 years what is important to me; and what isn’t has become a new way of life that offers new challenges every day.   I find new ways to live as simply as I can, without enjoying life any less.

 Some things that I’ve learned and adopted as normal ways of life include:

Food Shopping

I stay away from prepared foods. Raw ingredients cooked my way not only are better for me, but much cheaper. I can now control what flavors, calories and many other factors to what I want. This doesn’t mean that treats such as chips and cookies are out of the question! Much money saved here.

Gardening and Composting

During the summer months a large vegetable garden enables me to grow fresh produce that I can freeze to enjoy during the long winter months. Composting all of our vegetable ends and peels, coffee grounds and some leftovers has become an ongoing learning experience for us. The end result has astonished me. Beautiful dark, rich soil to add to our newly turned over garden in the spring is beyond happiness.

Frugal Use

I have taught myself to save and use items which normally would have been tossed without a thought in my earlier years. Plastic bags I rinse now and re-use *unless they held chicken products.  Scraps of cloth now become rugs. Paper trash is burnt in the wood stove and ALL products that can be recycled are: cans, glass, plastic, paper, everything. Our garbage bag load for 2 weeks is usually only 2 or 3 tall kitchen bags.

The list goes on, but these 3 are my first basic ingredients for a simpler life. I think even those living in a small apartment or home in the suburbs could begin thinking of new ways like these to cut back and start living more and more with less and less.

Laura Ingalls, You’ve got nothing on me!

Laura Ingalls, You’ve Got Nothing On Me, from The Homemakers Magazine

Say the words Fast Food and you think white bags, drive-ins, and cheap plastic toys, but it doesn’t have to be this way.

Fast Food is just that – something to fill people’s stomachs that doesn’t take long to make – because as you know, even though you’re home all day (doing nothing, probably; isn’t that what homemakers do?), more than once 6 p.m. rolls around and the onions aren’t chopped and the meat is still frozen.

What to do?

Try this:

Cook some spaghetti. While that’s happening, sauté garlic in olive oil (even faster if you have a jar of pre-chopped stuff on hand). Add spinach until it’s wilted; if you don’t have spinach, microwave some broccoli until tender and add that; no broccoli? Toss in frozen peas. No vegetables at all?

Do something about that – you need your veggies. Your mom told you that; it’s your turn to not only tell, but show your kids that as well.

Once whatever vegetable you’ve scrounged out of the back of the refrigerator is heated with the olive oil and garlic, drain the pasta, divide it onto plates, top with the vegetables, sprinkle the whole thing, if desired, with cheese, and eat. If you want meat with that, see if there’s some leftover chicken – you know, a half cup from last night that you didn’t know what to do with – or even a piece or two of lunchmeat that you slice into ribbons and artfully arrange atop.

It’ll take you less time than waiting at the drive-in with three kids fighting in the back; it’s cheaper than what’s in the white bag, and definitely better for you.

Fast Food That Doesn’t Come in White Bags, from The Homemakers Magazine

I hate the term Suzie Homemaker – it’s disrespectful, demeaning, and derisive, implying that women who stay at home wear frilly aprons and bonnets, and that they’re not particularly intelligent.

By extension, “traditional” pursuits of women throughout history – sewing, cooking, knitting, crafting, quilting, gardening – are dismissed as archaic and outmoded, the inference being that contemporary 21^st century women are too busy building computer motherboards and writing software for war games that they don’t have time to put up jam, bake Snickerdoodles, or sew a pair of pajamas.

Maybe you do write software. Cool. But don’t let that stop you from baking bread – in less than three hours and that many dollar bills you can create something unlike anything that you can buy, and you did it yourself. That’s a good feeling. Top the bread with a simple jam that takes a novice an afternoon at the stove, and you feel even better.

Me? The only socks I wear are the ones I knit myself. If I had to buy these socks from someone else, I couldn’t afford them. The lace shawl I finished last week was challenging and fun, and while there’s no way I’d put out the money to buy a product like this made from baby alpaca and merino wool, it mainly cost time to make it myself.

I’m a good cook, and through the years, the kids have learned to be good cooks as well, meaning that every night we eat better than most people do in restaurants, and for far, far less.

There is something intrinsically valuable about creating something that you are accustomed to buying, and the more you do it, the more empowered and independent you become

Isn’t that funny? For years we ‘ve been told that empowerment comes through sitting in an office cubicle, typing meaningless information into a word processing program. At the end of the day we’re tired, sunlight deprived, and empty handed.

Empowerment comes through making things with our hands, and then sharing them with the people we love.

Enough of Suzie Homemaker Already, from The Homemakers Magazine

Do you have an organized home?

What does having an organized home really mean?  

For some it means scads of cabinets, each organized with plastic drawer units and additional shelving. For others it means that when they need a rubber band, they reach for the mug that little Johnny made in art class which seems as good a place as any to keep rubber bands. For still others, it is an alien concept that does not compute and rubber bands might be lurking in any of a dozen places.

While there is no right or wrong way to have an organized home, some basic classification of your “stuff” is helpful.  After all, it is much easier to find your keys if you make a habit of leaving them in the same place each day. Organization is simply the act of creating a sense of order, most of the time it involves nothing more than forming new habits combined with a little bit of common sense

If your kids use glue, scissors and markers every day for homework projects, put those items together in a container and keep them near the area where the kids do their homework. Logically, these items might belong in a home office, but if your kids do their homework at the dining room table every day, then why not store them nearby where they will be handy. There are no rules, organization does not have to be rigid, but, instead, should make sense for your life.

Keeping rubber bands in any one of a dozen places, might qualify as a form of organization if those rubber bands are used for a dozen things and those places make sense for that person.  Many people live in a world of organized chaos and as long as they are able to find what they need, when they need it, then who’s to say their methods are wrong.

Here are 5 new habits you can adopt if you would like to have a more organized home:

• Spend 5 minutes in each room deciding which items are clutter and which are useful. Put the clutter into a bag, box or storage container and if, after a month, you have not needed these items, you can probably throw or give them away.
• Spend 10 minutes at the end of every day getting things ready for the next. Getting the kids backpacks ready for school, setting your briefcase near the door and putting together a short list of errands for the next day will give you an advantage in the morning.
• Set up areas or stations all around your home. In the bathroom this might mean putting hair products into a basket with your hair dryer; in the kitchen you can store coffee and tea-making supplies together to save time. Be creative with this idea, there are many possibilities for adding stations to any home.
• Make it a point to try and handle items as few times as possible. For example, sort mail immediately by recycling junk, answering anything important and setting bills aside for payment at the end of the week or month.  Sorting dirty clothes as you remove them saves time on laundry day. Going paperless can be a big time and clutter saver if you already use online banking to pay bills.
• Store things in the room where you use them most. Sounds simple right? It is amazing how often we miss this one. Most of us would not think of storing toilet paper in the kitchen, but it is amazing how much time we spend going from room to room to get one thing or another that is not stored where we use it most.

One final thing to remember, make these changes gradually. If you try to make a lot of new habits all at once, you will probably not stick with them.

Having an organized home means something different for everyone, so don’t compare your home to those paragons of sleekness you see in magazines. Just do what makes sense for you and your family and you can’t go wrong.

Organized Home? Want one?, from The Homemakers Magazine

It’s a secret, so don’t tell, because I don’t want the guy to get in trouble, but years ago when I was shopping at our local little grocery with four kids under the age of 12, one of the men working in the bulk foods section sidled up beside me and murmured,

“Does your family eat lentils?”

Surprised, I replied, “Yes, we do.”

“Then please don’t be offended,” he continued, “but I just spilled nearly two gallons of lentils on the floor. The floor is clean because I washed it less than half an hour ago and it dried. I’ve swept the lentils into this bag, and I will give them to you if you want. I noticed that you have a large family to feed.”

Not only was I not offended, I was flattered that I looked intelligent and resourceful enough to know what to do with two gallons of lentils – which you rinse before cooking, by the way, since even the ones that come in the sealed bags have dirt on them – and because I struck the man as unaffected and unpretentious enough to appreciate what he was offering me: good food for free.

“My mother raised a large family too,” the man told me as he placed the bag in my cart.

Years of living in an affluent society have caused us to take things for granted, but food is a precious thing, and many people don’t get enough of it. Spotted bananas make the best banana bread. Stale bread comes to life as French Toast. The limp, forgotten celery and carrots in the back of the vegetable bin revive in vegetable soup.

No matter what size of family you have to feed, your grocery bill is a big chunk of your budget, and the further that you can stretch this resource, the more money you’ll have left over at the end of the month for other things.

Like the electric bill.

The Gift of Food – Saving Money, from The Homemakers Magazine

Years ago, when I left my public relations job for the home, exchanging diapers for deadlines, a homemaker colleague gave me a piece of advice I have not only followed, but passed on:

“Most of what we do all day gets destroyed,” she said. “You make dinner, they eat it. You vacuum, the dog sheds on the carpet. You clean the bathroom, an hour later the floor is covered with towels.

“You get to the end of the day with nothing to show for it but work you remember doing.

“For this reason, it’s important that you create something, everyday if you can and no matter how small, that won’t get trashed.”

I’d use the word “hobby,” but that has such a lightweight, leisurely sense to it, as if you had hours to spare in which you craft pointless items out of used toilet paper rolls.

But for lack of better word, pick up a hobby or a skill of some sort, and spend some me-time each day getting better at it.

I knit. It’s portable, relatively inexpensive, and results in an item that — generally I, since I rarely knit for others — wear.

I also sew, fairly simple items since I don’t have much time for the complicated stuff, and there’s a strong sense of satisfaction at the end of the day seeing a child or grandchild in pajamas that I created and they picked the material for.

Social media doesn’t count – really. I know, it keeps you connected, sort of, but at the end of an hour you’ve farmed imaginary produce and read more information than you want to know about slight acquaintances, and there’s nothing in your hands to show for it.

 Blog. Paint. Draw. Play the piano. Write letters. Garden. Make cheese.

Take time – make time – for yourself every day if you can, and it will probably be in small increments – but learn to do and make something that outlasts the afternoon.

Do Something Each Day That Doesn’t Get Destroyed, from The Homemakers Magazine

Most people are polite enough not to ask you to your face, but in some ways, it would be better if they would, as opposed to murmuring,

“What does she do all day anyway?

“And why is her house so messy when she’s in it all the time?”

Anyone with young children, or older ones if you homeschool, knows the answer to that one, but frequently people unfamiliar with the homemaking lifestyle can’t imagine why you’re behind on the laundry, facing a sinkful of dishes, and racking your brains as to what’s for dinner tonight.

“Sounds like what every working woman deals with everyday. After work.” More murmuring.

Well, let’s establish a few things:

Homemakers are working women. Their office is their home, and it is never empty. The house is not set in order the night before, then left without people for the bulk of the day. There are always people moving about, using things, dropping things, eating off of dishes, creating clutter. When people live in a house, it looks lived in.

Homemaking consists of more than washing clothes, cooking meals, and changing diapers. The average homemaker does not press and fold underwear anymore than the average out-of-home-working-woman does and for the same reason: she doesn’t have time. If she has babies and young children, much of her time is absorbed in their care: while no one considers the average daycare a tidy place – because there are a lot of children, playing with a lot of toys — the homemaker does not have staff members to, literally, pick up the slack.

Homemakers with older children or no children at all pursue a variety of in-home business interests – from writing to creating items for sale, from marketing to gardening, from consulting to teaching – to supplement family finances. This in-home work, paid or unpaid, takes up time in the same way a “real” job does.

And finally, many of the day to day tasks that outside-of-the-home-working-women squeeze into evenings and weekends – like the aforementioned laundry and dishes, as well as shopping, financial recordkeeping, swishing the toilets, and the ubiquitous errands – are done during the workday, as part of the work.

That’s what homemakers do all day.

What Do Homemakers Do All Day Anyway?, from The Homemakers Magazine

Sometimes, when you don’t have a lot of money, it’s tempting to pinch pennies until they squeal. While this doesn’t hurt the pennies, it does do something to us, shrinking our souls so we can fit them into the tight budget we have set up.

I am reminded of a woman in our town who held yearly yard sales, her inventory consisting of items that she packed back into boxes every year because they never sold.

“If you bought this new, it would be $10,” she told me when I visited the week before, while she adjusted the prices from last year. “I’m charging $7.50, which is a real steal, because the customer doesn’t have to pay sales tax.”

Apparently the customers didn’t see things this way, because not only did they not pay sales tax, they didn’t pay anything, tactfully wandering off.

“Why don’t you just give it away?” I asked one year, as she was supervising the annual put-everything-back-in-the-basement extravaganza, her husband picking up boxes, grunting, and muttering under his breath. I swear that he shot me an appreciative glance.

“That’s not smart finances,” she admonished. “You’ll never get ahead when you just give things away.”

“But you don’t need it,” I replied. “You spend all this time unpacking it and pricing it and supervising it during the sale and packing most of it back up again. How are you financially benefiting from this?”

“I paid for it,” she said flatly. “I’m getting my money back.”

She never did, and worse, she never learned to stop buying so much, every year adding more, well, junk to her house that she never used, but couldn’t give away because she needed the money to buy more junk.

Buy less. Use what you have. And when you’re done, give it to someone who needs it.

You’ll get ahead. Trust me.

Pinching Pennies? Pitch It, from The Homemakers Magazine