During the average week, I am found in my kitchen making meals, cleaning counters, teaching children, and washing dishes. It seems to be a job that is never-ending and very often goes unappreciated. Yet, it must be done, on repeat, several times each day.
Recently, I received a book that belonged to my great-grandmother. The ancient, well-used and falling-apart book is chock full of recipes, stories and poems, and pictures from the author’s time spent in her own kitchen. It seems to me as if it were an antiquated form of a modern-day blog. Mrs. Allen, the author serves up recipes alongside dashes of wisdom and sprinkles of seasoned tips for the 1920’s housewife.
Olive, my great-grandmother, was a hard-working homemaker who raised seven boys during the Great Depression. I can’t even begin to imagine the daily struggles she must have faced, the trials she endured and the piles of dishes she must have washed. Looking around my modern kitchen, I am amazed at how many small appliances and huge convenience items I daily rely upon.
As I scoured through the worn pages of Mrs. Allen on Cooking, I came across a lovely poem that stood out to me. It made me realize that my occasional longings for “something different” is not all that new in the world of motherhood and homemaking. Mothers for at least a century–dare I say even longer–have been grappling with the feelings of wanting more, desiring beauty and a fulfillment of dreams.
Yet, the woman in the poem experiences a profound realization that her life is in fact full of beauty and purpose. Over the years, she had worked hard to create a lovely space for her family. She learned how to clean and care for her home. She worked hard to prepare healthy meals for her children. And, she discovered that she was not weighed down by the daily tasks of homemaking. Rather, she was empowered by all of these things!
The Whole Loaf
Once upon a time
There was a woman
Who loved
Beauty.
She longed to paint, to make fine music.
But her life was cast in other lines.
Disappointment embittered her soul.
“Shall I live forever in a dream of what I cannot be?” she said.
“Because my time must be given to homely tasks and the care of children, shall I never express beauty?”
She visited a gallery.
She saw a picture–a perfect thing.
Fruit arranged in a basket, and some garden flowers.
And near-by another–a quaint bowl of milk–a loaf of bread and a blue-eyed child.
“I have fruit, and a basket covered with dust,” she said.It was time to feed the Littlest Child.
Mrs. Allen on Cooking, copyright 1924
He was blue-eyed.
There was a wholesome loaf.
On the top shelf was a quaint bowl.
She put it before him–filled with milk.
The scales fell from her eyes–
She had the Whole Loaf.
Ida C. Bailey Allen
So, moms as you work hard to accomplish those so-often unappreciated, mundane tasks day in and day out, be encouraged. You are doing something mighty and great! You are raising babies into adults; you are making the next generation. Your job is vital to society.
For a VIDEO version of this post, check out this video: Bread Baking Day || Homemaker Encouragement.
For our family’s favorite homemade bread RECIPE:
Sourdough Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
