Understanding the Nebulous: We're in it for the Long Term

I think much of the criticism aimed at vocation homemaking has been because of the sheer nebulousness of the job. And, of course this criticism comes from both people who would never call themselves "homemakers" and those of us who, whatever our circumstances, are happy to take on the role. The physical work we do is often never-ending; mopped floors are soon dirtied, toilets are used as soon as we've cleaned them, meals are eaten, beds are slept in; even those of us who engage in more "definite" homemaking activities, such as baking, preserving and gardening know that the results of all of that patient work will be eaten for breakfast without even a backward glance in the direction of the homemaker from the devouring hoard of the family in full-on morning rush mode. I sometimes think that this is why there are so many homemaking blogs out there. Thousands of women from across continents collectively howling into the ether "this is what I did today, please look and acknowledge my work before it disappears!"

Of course, our work seems even more nebulous when we compare it to the world of the market economy where we were constantly evaluated in terms of what we could produce, and produce it quickly to boot. Even in a creative profession such as teaching I was evaluated whilst "in action" on a regular basis, and given a number from one to three as an indication of the value of my work, my capabilities, myself. My husband is also subject to yearly evaluations of professional competence, and his department is under constant scrutiny and is weighed, measured and sometimes found wanting in terms of achieving a set of inflexible production related targets. So in the world of payed work, even if we are not producing something definite and concrete, even if we work in the service industry, the value of our output is presented to us within the concrete frames of targets and assessment, which are imposed upon us by a higher authority.

In homemaking however, there are no such targets, no such assessments. Even if there were, they would have to be completely self-imposed. Can you imagine the scenario of targets being imposed upon the homemaker by the rest of the family? Can you imagine your work in the home being assessed by children and spouse? "I believe you are a level one cook, but unfortunately I can only rate you a level three on floor cleanliness. If you do not meet the floor cleanliness targets by the end of the quarter I'm afraid I will put you on probation." Having a formal assessment of our output as homemakers is almost a barbaric prospect. So, we live in a society which, to use modern parlance, is very goal driven: where assessment reigns supreme within the workplace; where target setting is a way of life; where your value is given only in terms of whether targets are met and assessments go well: but we homemakers, by the very nature of the job, cannot function under those terms.


Therefore, we are left in the very peculiar situation of working very hard, yet not doing such work within the parameters of the current market zeitgeist. We are amongst the few workers in the western world who are left to work in a way which pleases ourselves. And, of course the temptation is to feel frustrated with the more nebulous parts of the job, not only because we see nothing concrete at the end of the day, just more work to do the next morning, but have no formal assessor; no-one to praise us and no one to punish poor workmanship. Now, as a woman of faith, I know this to be untrue, I have a Higher Authority, who is ready to assess justly the work I do in His name, and I know his assessment of me will be more thorough and more true and more fair than any attempt at target setting done in the world of work by a bloke in a dark suit, carrying an ominous clipboard. However, I do know this this assessment will be done in His time only, and often this doesn't seems as quite quick enough for the average person. This, I suppose is my primary point. We should realise that any work done in service to others is done in service to God too. Now, this may not make the work any less frustrating, any less boring, any less grubby, but it does make the work have great purpose. We serve others, we serve our Creator, there is no greater purpose.

So, in a round-about way I come to my secondary point. That is, the work we do in the home is not nebulous at all, but simply work which has very, very slow results. We may think that cooking three decent meals a day is a little pointless, when the results of hours of labour is gobbled down in less that twenty minutes. But providing good nourishment is long term, and the affects of good nourishment are long term too; what we feed our children now helps them grow into healthy adulthood, what we teach our children now about food will in turn be taught to our grandchildren. Cleaning floors and toilets seem like nebulous tasks, but the long term results of good hygiene in the home are good health, fewer viruses, fewer infections. Moreover, every little kiss, every clean pillow case, every homemade brownie, every cup of tea served has a long-term cumulative affect of making others feel loved, welcome and comfortable.

I think sometimes there is too much of an emphasis put on "performance" in homemaking and even in parenting. You are a good homemaker if... well, I leave you to fill in the gap, it could be anything, but I bet it's not something long term. But, we're in it for the long term, homemaking is a SLOW occupation, the little, seemingly nebulous, tasks we do on a day to day basis are not pointless but are part of a greater point. A good job well done, slowly (but perhaps never perfectly), for the love of our family, our community and our Creator. And, seen in those terms, it's not such a bad job after all.

Edit:
I've said it once before, but it bears repeating...
I'm very keen on homemaking, I'm a domestic animal, I love my job. I think that many people, regardless of social status and payed work commitments, enjoy the domestic sphere and when I use the word "homemaker" I use it to describe a person who sees their house as something much more than just a crash pad. I'm not keen on the mummy-wars and I make no judgments about my friend's life-choices, when we talk about homemaking we tend to get tangled in a web of cultural differences which tend to muddy the important (and I believe it to be of crucial importance) issue of what "home" really is, therefore my definition of homemaker tends to be pretty broad and inclusive.