Being a homemaker is more than cooking, cleaning, and caring for children. Today let’s have a look at what are the responsibilities of a homemaker.
Ever imagine what a home without a homemaker looks like?
How life be if you worked day and night only to come home to a messy kitchen, stinky bathroom, dirty laundry, and personal belongings scattered all over?
Home is the primary place in our lives. When it is in good order, all the other stuff makes sense.
A homemaker is a person who makes a home.
What does making a home or being a homemaker look like?
A homemaker is a chef, therapist, teacher, grocery buyer, cleaning lady/housekeeper, pet caregiver, and so much more.
No matter what we think or what social media tells us, the truth is there’s no perfect marriage/family. There is no perfect home or life in this world. So instead of comparing our lives to others, why not try our best and be better homemakers.
This truth is uplifting and appreciative enough to work diligently and persevere in our calling — homemaking.
10 RESPONSIBILITIES OF A HOMEMAKER
1| Prepare meals:
Enjoying warm meals at home with my husband is my favorite part of my day.
As a homemaker serving hot, healthy homecooked meals must be our priority.
Food is a vital requirement. Watching your family eat something out of a package when you must prepare meals for them is something unwelcoming.
Despite saving money (also the responsibility of the homemaker) and time, cooking meals (with healthier ingredients) at home is the safest thing you can do for your family.
Homemade food costs you considerably low than takeout.
By preparing meals at home, you take control of the ingredients and serve nutritious meals that are easier to digest.
Unlike takeout or packaged food, home-cooked meals are wholesome (less salt, sugar, and oil). They taste a lot better. Stay fresh longer. And can be prepared in different ways.
With little planning and preparation, cooking at home is less challenging.
Just pick 5-6 dinner recipes for the week. Make a list of ingredients required for those recipes. Get groceries. Do a little preparation, and you’re all set.
2| Wash dishes:
Keeping the kitchen clean is essential for better health and well-being.
You must invest time and effort in cleaning and tidying your kitchen as you don’t want the place where you prepare, consume, and store your food to be messy and cluttered.
A clean kitchen will not only save you time and money but have a positive impact on your family and visitors.
No matter how much you drudge this task, washing your dishes lowers stress and protects you from harmful bacteria and allergens.
Leaving dirty dishes in the sink for longer largely grows bacteria around the place.
Even the widely used soaking method doesn’t work as the grimy, greasy water is a breeding ground for bacteria too in which you dip your hands to remove the dishes to wash.
In case you fail to wash your hands thoroughly you’re going to spread foodborne bacteria all over the place.
It’s a homemaker’s responsibility to clean the utensils, stove, and working surfaces regularly.
Get rid of the trash, keep on top of the dishes, clean the sink, and discard rotten food periodically to prevent a stinky kitchen.
Besides this, organize your kitchen to make it safe and more efficient to work.
3| Keep on top of laundry:
After humble food and abode, clothes are a third basic need of human beings.
Doing laundry can feel like having no end.
But as a keeper of the home, it is your responsibility to see to it that the people in your home don’t run out of clean clothes.
Depending on how large your family is, commit one day of the week to laundry or do one load every day.
Having a proper system in place can help you keep laundry under control.
However, doing one load each day would keep things manageable. You don’t have to put in efforts as much as you think.
Earlier I would never run a smaller load.
But I figured the stains and sour smell of clothes get tougher when they sit for a long. Such clothes take extra time and effort, therefore consuming more water and energy.
Make an effort to finish the process — wash, dry, and put away.
Along with regular clothes, it is also important that you wash sheets and towels to be able to change them regularly.
Read How To Create A LAUNDRY SYSTEM That Works
4| Iron clothes:
Ironing gives your clothes a fresh and polished look.
Pressing removes wrinkles, creases, and folds, and adds a slight sheen to the clothes.
It’s the job of a homemaker to ensure that her kids and husband look slick at school and work.
Assigning an ironing day is worthwhile.
5| Keep the house clean:
Having a cleaning system in place is crucial.
Ensuring a safe environment is another duty of a homemaker.
All of us love having a neat and tidy space but many of us find keeping home clean out of control.
Well with little ones it is a tough job. But you can still play a more effective role.
Clutter and mess can create disturbance and distract you from concentrating on the important stuff.
It makes things difficult to find and makes you feel overwhelmed.
Routines are your friend.
A daily, weekly, deep cleaning routine will really help reduce stress.
Having good cleaning routines in place will ensure you spend less time cleaning.
Because you know regular maintenance versus washing or scrubbing when it’s too dirty. The former is simpler.
Each day spending a few minutes maintaining a clean home you’ll never have to overwork to get your home back in order.
Plus, you’ll be able to cook, read a book, do something you love, and relax without having to think about all the chaos.
Maintaining a clean space means you’ll never have to freak out when surprise guests visit.
6| Meal plan + grocery shop:
I know that sounds like another chore but trust me it’ll make your life simpler.
As homemakers, what to cook for dinner is constantly on our minds. Memorizing things consumes a lot of our energy.
Even if you come up with a recipe, chances are the ingredients are missing. And if you know what you’re going to cook, plus you have all the ingredients, you may be bored to start preparing your meal from scratch.
I suggest sparing 15-20 minutes (every week) to plan meals and create a grocery list. Try not to spend more than 20 minutes. I can’t tell how relieved you’ll feel. It will take a huge pressure off your mind.
Buy groceries and prep up a little bit before popping the ingredients into the refrigerator and pantry. And you’ll be sorted for the week.
All these efforts will be rewarding, I promise.
Feel free to reuse the same meal plans and grocery list a couple times a month.
Planning meals and taking inventory before grocery shopping helps prevent the wastage of forgotten food items.
7| Manage finances:
Yes, as a homemaker you may want to draw up a budget and save your husband’s hard-earned salary for several reasons.
It can be for financial independence, building an emergency fund, paying off debt, buying a home/car, medical bills, planning for retirement, investment, travel, and so on.
It’s a homemaker’s responsibility to get spending under control and contribute as much as we can.
Because no matter how productively we work in our homes, the person (our husband) working outside has significant responsibilities and a challenging job.
A good homemaker supports her husband financially. It can be done through budgeting, living off one income (if you’re earning a little with your hobbies/working at home), using deals/coupons, finding free entertainment, and so much more.
8| Run errands:
Together with housework, there are tasks outside of the home that you do need to take care of, as a homemaker.
This includes grocery shopping, getting gas, getting medicines, going to the bank, picking up dry cleaning, doctors/other appointments, etc
Since we stay home it’ll be really helpful if we do this and help our husband focus on his work.
9| Stock a pantry:
It is a wise move on a homemaker’s part to have a well-stocked pantry.
A well-stocked pantry not only helps you prepare for emergencies but also saves time and money.
It is a great way to ensure you won’t be out of stock of main ingredients, personal care products, and cleaning supplies. Because that can be frustrating.
Also, when you have healthy food and snacks at home you’re more likely to avoid pre-packaged stuff.
10| Keep family happy and healthy:
Along with physical care, the emotional well-being of our family relies upon us too.
Regardless of the size of our home and all the luxury, if we can’t make it a home, it would be of no value.
A little effort here and there makes all the difference.
Getting a hot meal on the table before your husband arrives, a quick backrub, putting clothes and belongings out for him, a quick tidy up of home, decently dressed kiddos and yourselves, sharing fun stories at the dinner table, and some care (anything you can think of) is all that matter.
The numbers continue. But this list of responsibilities of a homemaker pretty much has you covered.
Don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments section below. Thank you so much for reading. Happy Homemaking!