Tuesday 21 March 2017

You - yes YOU, can become Feminine










If you think that you are too plain, too big, too small, too manly,  too clumsy, or that your 'bad' past, will prevent you from becoming irresistably feminine - think again!


This is another thing you won't find on the internet. But here on The Housewifely Haven, you will discover just how easy it is to experience your own feminine transformation - whatever  your looks, build, or past.



If you are a wife and housewife, or you want to be one; then you can learn to become one of those treasured wives that I mentioned on a previous post, 'A Case of the What ifs'. A man might well admire a clever, independent, high-earning woman; but such women never inspire deeper feelings in the man of integrity. As a feminine woman your life will change; you will suddenly have doors opened for you, be treated with consideration and be smiled at. I cannot begin to describe the  wonderful differences that becoming feminine will bring into your life, and into the lives of others. So...

As always, don't take my word for it...
JOIN OUR CHALLENGE!






I thought it would be interesting to study the picture below for a few clues.





 This woman appears to have a good figure, probably a pretty face too, and her hair is long (and long hair is very feminine). But she isn't what you would describe as 'feminine'. Why not?

Well, the most unfeminine and unattractive thing about her is that she is coming over as self-obsessed. She is unaware of anything or anyone around her. Her mouth is set in a grim expression and her stride has a manly look.


Her outift is quite provocative isn't it? A woman will usually think that 'sexy' equates with 'feminine', but to a man it comes over as hard or threatening; a general turn-off (except to the man who has other designs on a woman). The clothing and bag aren't doing much for her either; it looks like they have been thrown on without thought. Her priority is her social media, her agendas, and her wish to look 'desirable'. The boots are very masculine too.


 A non-feminine woman has very little inner confidence. She is so busy trying to prove herself as 'better than a man.' What is the point of that?

Here is your challenge.
Becoming feminine is done in easy painless stages. These few steps will begin your transformation. Please let us know if you are doing the challenge, and how you get on.

STEP 1


Appearance
The watchword is 'softness'. How can we appear softer and gentler?  We can begin by growing our hair and wearing it loose in a barrette or slide so that the soft hair can be seen. It doesn't matter what age we are: 50... 60;  it is a myth that short hair looks better on an older woman!  So don't cut your hair when it gets to the awkward stage. Use a slide or pretty hair grip to keep it out of your eyes, and enjoy the lovely, soft feel of your hair. (Plait long hair for night-time or when you need to, it is gentle on the hair).


If you have never put on a skirt before, buy a longer length denim skirt (It will be a bit like jeans, so not too scary). If wearing tights or stockings, an underslip will prevent static cling. After a short time you will feel more feminine, and happier than in those uncomfortable, unflattering jeans.


Face
 Smile! A smile tranforms the plainest face and makes it feminine and attractive. Heavy makeup gives faces a hard look, so avoid covering up the soft, naturalness of your face. A little foundation to even the appearance of your skin is probably all you need. Remember the watchword - softness.



STEP 2


 Home and domesticity
Put away your phone and get off FaceBook. This is going to be much more fun and relaxing, and contenting!
Make a pot of tea or coffee and sit down in your sitting-room or kitchen. Look around you and see if there is something you can rearrange to make  your home more attractive and relaxing to be in. Have a bit of a potter/putter around and take your time. Open the fridge and cupboard - is there anything nice you can cook for tea? The amazing thing about pottering at a relaxed pace is that you will begin to enjoy your home, and discover the contentment of domesticity.

Find a gentle and feminine hobby that you can pick up when the housework is done and dinner planned. Knitting, crochet, drawing, baking, reading gentle books (if you can find a single 'non-feminist book' that is) can be very pleasant and enriching. If you don't know how to knit or sew, learn at a slow pace, and enjoy the process, or ask someone to teach you.
If your home is really a disaster area and in chaos, join flylady.net and get her emails. It is free, and you will soon begin to make a peaceful and ordered oasis that your husband and family can come home to.



STEP 3


Serving and Kindness
Our social conditioning makes us see these words and think 'doormat'  and 'what about MY rights?' But that is as far from the truth as you can get. The opposite is true. If you do not serve and be kind to others you will be missing out on real pleasure, contentment and fulfillment. Try it and see for yourself. Make yourself vulnerable by serving and being kind to others. You will develop a gentleness that is irresistable. This does not mean that you make yourself inferior. You are the queen of the home. Femininity will help you to understand that place of honour.

When you wake up, get dressed in your skirt, brush your long hair and smile. Enjoy thinking about what's for dinner, and getting that washing out on the line - so there are clean, fresh clothes for the family... Cultivate a soft voice and manner. You don't have to be on the attack with the ones you love. Put their needs first, and consider what your husband says without jumping down his throat; effectively silencing him. We have been taught to have agendas and get what we want at all costs. The feminine way allows others to have their feelings considered, and yet, the feminine woman usually finds good things and unexpected things flowing into her life without grabbing for them.

Are you doing the Housewifely Haven Feminine Transformation Challenge?


I really appreciate reading your lovely comments, but am unable to reply to many as my priority is being a wife and housewife : )
As always, I will not publish those which would spoil our happy Housewifely Haven atmosphere




Sunday 12 March 2017

The Richer Life of a Housewife - Savings



 
It's great news!
A housewife on a very modest income can have a richer life.


 










What the housewife can save without batting an eyelid:


Transport and petrol/gas costs. Your trips can be leisurely and well-planned and you may not need to run another vehicle.


Meal costs  You will be staggered at what you will save on meals! Expensive takeaways (because you have no time and are exhausted from work) will be replaced by inexpensive, healthy foods, that take 5  minutes to plan in the week. Food won't be wasted, and you won't run out and have to dash to the shops to buy more. 



Clothing costs  Business clothes can be replaced by pretty day dresses and skirts. You can learn to make them at home and have fun. An inexpensive pattern can be reused often, every scrap of the fabrics can be used to make unique gifts, items for the home, and accessories. The housewife has time to treat her and her family's clothing carefully and they will last much longer.



Electricity costs No more expensive drier. The washing line can be used when it is not wet. Meals can be planned for the oven and items batch-cooked. Just having the time to think will give you easy routines that save on costs around the home.



Maintenance  Taking your time, and incorporating little habits and routines will mean less accidents and breakages. Appliances and furniture will be cared for and maintained; they will last for years longer.



Shopping  When a housewife learns to potter around her home, changing, arranging and making pretty little touches here and there; things that lift her heart and calm her restlessness; she will find a deep sense of contentment begins to appear. That compulsion to keep buying new 'stuff' is mostly caused by a continual sense of dis-satisfaction with what one has. The truth is, that what we already have, when we have time to care for and enjoy it, will give us more peace and contentment than buying more stuff will.



'Me' time  Me-time costs pretty much nothing for the happy housewife. Her schedule is her own, to plan and organise according to her preferences. Inviting a friend for tea and home-made scones; reading her book in the garden after lunch, or listening to some peaceful music, for instance. Or she can pick up her knitting, or take a walk in the sunshine (or snow!). She can teach herself all sorts of skills to enrich her homemaking. These will be happy times - and much more relaxing and rewarding for herself and her family, than scrolling FaceBook or social media.



Child-care Instead of paying through the nose to have your children cared for by strangers, the housewife can care for them at home. She can guide them and give them the security of a mother's presence. As they grow, she will learn how to create order, and routines so that life will be richer for her and them. She will be the one to see and encourage their first steps, or put a blanket over a table to make a little play house. She will be the one to fill the doll's tea-pot with water for the teddy-bear's picnic...  while her friend enjoys real tea and a chat. A trusted friend  can arrange that each have an afternoon off by looking after the other mother's child once a week if wished. 



HELPFUL TIP
Long-time housewife, Dee, suggests keeping track of how much you save your family by not working. Her personal experiences of what she has saved over the years is well worth reading. You will find the full details in the comments section on the post  'Strange Perceptions'.

Friday 3 March 2017

Strange Perceptions













Years ago, you would often hear or read of people saying things like 'When I was a child, I thought we were rich, until I grew up and realised that we had had very little money'


Soon, I think we will begin to hear and read the opposite from our grown children. They will say 'I always assumed that we were  poor when I was young, until I grew up and realised we had had quite a lot of money'



And right now, adults seem to have very strange perceptions of what is rich and what is poor...





Time to dig the snow

Is it poor to be able to be at home and spend quality time with your own children?








Little rich kid?
  Will he look back with fondness on his expensive games and videos and cupboards full of toys - and parents absent, or simply too busy?











Is this a poor family sitting around the table together?















Would it be richer to dash into a busy fast food outlet, and feast on their 'wholesome' fare?












Is having the time to think about dinner and do the shopping an impoverishing experience?











 Poverty? - having to hang the washing on the line on this lovely day, with baby out here in the fresh air.














 Perhaps 40+ hours a week of this is rich and contenting?










 Will she feel that she was poor because mummy was there when she was ill?









Or perhaps she would feel richer in the day care?













 No expenses spared holiday?










 Or a peaceful romantic walk that costs hugely less?






A wife at home, enjoying her home, spending time with the one she loves, can have a richer life.






Thursday 2 March 2017

A Case of the 'What if's'



Welcome to The Housewifely Haven

I am a full-time wife and housewife. To me, it is the most fulfilling, satisfying and happy thing in the world. I know that many women feel the same way - but you won't read that on the internet - I believe there is a nasty agenda out there. But 'in here', you are safe and free to relax, to learn how to be a housewife, and all the benefits that await you if you do.

If you are a 'seasoned' housewife (sounds like you are to be a casserole?) maybe you don't need to read this post. But for anyone whose heart is saying 'How I wish I could stay home and be a housewife' or something along those lines, below is a quick list of 'What if's' that might be worrying you. I hope they may help.

Before I post the list, I want you to remember - this blog is to be a gentle, peaceful haven for housewives, or those wanting to explore the world of the housewife. Comments are moderated, and I will simply not publish anything that will spoil our fun. 

What if's (short list - short answers -)

What if I don't have much money?
You don't need much money. You don't need land. You don't need to own your own home. You don't need anything more than a very modest income to manage as a happy housewife. Resourcefulness is truly fun. I will show you how.


 What if I don't have children?  Then you will have more time to: Build a deep and abidingly romantic relationship with your husband - a regular lunch date; gathering up quick supplies for a picnic when he has an unexpected afternoon off; always being able to take a holiday when he has his leave from work; creating a warm welcoming atmosphere at home where he loves to be after the madness of his day. You will have the time to learn new skills that will be satisfying and fun. If you have a garden of some kind, you can learn to grow bright flowers, or maybe you would like to start with growing tomatoes or salad leaves for the table. Perhaps you want to learn how to sew your own clothes or knit, draw or papercraft.  If you don't know other housewives, invite an elderly person for tea once a week. How they would love to visit in a real, relaxed home atmosphere. These things are what our society is sorely lacking today.


What if people think I am stupid by not having a job or career?
Your job and career as a wife, housewife (and mother, if you have children) is more important and fulfilling by far. You will be more relaxed , organised and looking after those you love the most of all. Personally, I think it is a very clever choice to have these priorities.



What if I am not a natural housewife, and I can't clean and organise?
Most women would say the same to begin with. How much time was invested in showing you how to do these things? As long as your heart desires it, that is all you need. Cleaning and organising only feel overwhelming because we have not been taught how to do it at a natural, gentle pace. I will show you how easy it is to run a home when you are not squeezing it into impossibly tight schedules


What if I am bored?
You won't be. After a period of adjustment (be kind to yourself over this) you will discover how rich life at home will be. It will amaze you.


What if I am treated like a doormat and have to be a slave to the family?
If you understand that you are the 'queen of the home', and your role of guiding it, you won't be treated like a doormat. You are not a martyr either. I remember seeing a video of Queen Elizabeth when she was a young woman. She was on a picnic with her family in Scotland I believe. There she was, the Queen of England, happily serving out the tea and sandwiches. Serving is a thing that builds confidence and richness in life - if you value yourself and those you love. 


What if I feel unfeminine, or I am not glamorous?
If you don't feel feminine, you soon will do. Being a housewife, away from the harsh working world, gradually allows you to soften. Free from the pressures of making money or career, your features and your voice begin to soften - your husband and family see this and they will love it. Don't take my word for it - see for yourself.
It is not about being glamorous! Men don't see beauty the same as us - truly! To a husband, a women who has a gentle manner, a softness and a sweet smile, is a beautiful woman. Try it for yourself.


What if I don't have a husband?
A man of integrity, who wants to serve his wife by leading,  providing for and protecting her, is not attracted to a 'manly' type of female, or a self-obssessed,  bossy, overtly 'sexy' woman. He wants to love and cherish a sweet, gentle and feminine woman whom he can safely trust in. If you wish to be one of these treasured ladies, you can easily learn to become one. You will be prepared and confident when the right man comes along - and you will have a lot of good men from which to choose. As always, don't take my word for it, try it and see for yourself.

I hope you will enjoy these posts, and find them helpful. I hope to inspire you on your housewifely adventures, organising, meals, cleaning, creativity and resourcefulness and on becoming more feminine. Anyone can do this! The schedule is not gruelling.  My first priority is my own husband, home and family, so I won't post a huge amount.


I welcome polite, respectful and genuine comments from housewives or those who want to be housewives.