House wifery...

A bit like touch-typing...I never realised how important house wifery was going to be in life. In some pseudo-feminist haze, I drifted along thinking I would never need to type like a secretary or keep house like I was from the 1950's. Now I find, email is everything and working for a multinational corporation, the faster you type, the better. Life moves pretty fast, you've got to be able to keep up. Likewise on the home front, the long lost skills of proper house wifery really do seem to be the answer to happiness!

As recently confessed, I only learned to cook in my 30s. But I have always liked things tidy at home. Pre-children this involved lazy Saturday mornings, pottering around, tidying our little flat or town house; really more styling than cleaning. Now with my messy brood, our house can go from spotless to bomb-has-hit in about ten minutes - trust me, I have timed it. I spend ridiculous amounts of time tidying up, organising, sorting, folding, piling, wiping; it goes on and on. I realise now that being a good house wife is the key to a harmonious life. There seems to be unrefutable evidence that if things are organised, life runs smoothly. List after list of 'to do's' get ticked off, the children have what they need, homework completed, meals planned, food is not wasted, admin gets done, bills paid and invites RSVP'ed. Husband drops in and out in the working week like a satellite and all is an oasis of calm.

I am all for being the retro Cath Kidston aproned Mummy, baking cupcakes in the Aga (actually we have a Rayburn; it's the 'poor man's' Aga!). Revelling in my cabbage rose adorned, kitchen-is-the-heart-of-the-home lifestyle. Come to my farmhouse and it looks just like that, maybe minus the cupcakes...

But finding that balance of house wifery with the reality of 2010 life is a challenge. One that I try day after day to rise to. And I still type using three fingers and a misguided thumb...ummm, time for a cuppa tea?