Å Study In Housewifery: 1950's vs. 2015

The nostalgia of the the 50's is unparalleled.  For some reason when the image of a housewife is invoked, it is of the 1950's housewife. With her perfectly rolled hair, classic makeup, immaculate frilly dress (homemade of course, because she had wicked awesome seamstress skills), and coming out of the kitchen with the roast on the platter and a huge content smile on her face as though the only things worth living for were serving her family.  And maybe it was.

Today's stay at home mom's (SAHM) while unburdened by a lot of work with the inovations of technology, seem to be more stressed, get less done, and feel more ashamed of their skills as a homemaker.  I am one of them.  I'm the type of girl who loves to deep clean, get the nooks and crannies, wash baseboards, etc.  But with the demands of parenting these days, I'm lucky if I get the laundry folded and dishwasher ran.

 I understand as my 12 month old gets older, it will be easier to get things done, but at the moment I have choices to make: Play with my son, or keep the house in order.  Take him for a walk or to the park, or organize the fridge.  Sing songs with him and pique his interest in books,  or being "with" him without actually being present with him because i'm busy doing household chores.  

Ok, that last part isn't fair.  Sometimes we do have to do all those things, but the demands of parenting today are so overwhelming.  I don't have any helicopter mom tendencies, but I do have a little boy whose only wish in the world in to be right next to someone, doing what they are doing.  And sometimes that interferes with me getting dinner made or picking the house up, and so I'm just there with him without actually being all there with him.

However, no one really seems to complain about how they were raised by these nostalgia stay at home moms, and we all instinctively know that kids are quite capable of playing on their own without us "engaging" (being up their a$$) constantly.

I came across this blog post a few days from The Stepford Sisters ago that had the author outlining the typical day of the 1950's housewife, and was going to follow it for a week.  I think I am going to follow in her example to see what exactly the difference in mind set/productivity is, and how we can incorporate some of yesterday's standards into today's complete parenting mentality, or if it now a lost art.  Call this an amateur  Anthropology study, if you will :)

So starting this Monday, I will be attempting to be the quintessential little housewife.....we'll see how this plays out.

The Paleo Toddler Series: Homemade Snacks and Breakfast Ideas

Now that I've gotten the easy store-bought snacks down, it's time to get in the kitchen, brave this ridiculous Texas heat that our ancient air conditioner cannot compete with, and start making some tasty diet friendly eats for the kiddo.

Baked Egg in Avocado:

So many good healthy fats and protein in this one! I like to season the egg a little with some spice just because that's how we roll in this household, but it's pretty good with just a little salt and pepper! I found this yummy recipe on Pinterest

The Paleo Toddler Series: Store Bought Snacks

In my last post I talked about how Baby B was diagnosed with severe leaky gut and massive food sensitivities.  Nowadays it seems as though EVERYTHING that is marketed for babies and toddlers include dairy, gluten, rice and/or oats, and high fructose corn syrup in at least 3 different forms. After realizing I had to get rid of his yogurt pouches, cheesy puffs, GF teething biscuits and could no longer make his favorite dish of fried rice with eggs and pea, I was left in a panic and scratching my head-what to do next?

I started by doing the same thing I did for myself when I had to go Gluten Free; I sought out the ready to eat snack foods first.  By knowing I had store snacks to eat, it bought me some time to make my own snacks, and encouraged me to really get the ball rolling with the rest of the plan.

Off I trotted to Sprouts to get

Paleo Toddler Series: Background and Prelude to An (Almost) Drastic Change

We spent the entire first year of Baby B's life battling illness, one after the other.  First, it was months upon months of colic, gasiness and upset tummy.  This coincided with ear infections, sinus infections, a bout of pink eye, and just general malaise.  He was a trooper though, always wanting to play and explore and talk.  It breaks my heart to think of everything he was going through.  

After moving down to Texas we started with a wonderful pediatrician, but ultimately switched as he was practicing outdated intact care for boys. We ended up with a holistic practitioner when B got a horrid case of pink eye. As the PA was examining him, she was explaining that in addition to the fluid in his ears, she had a hunch that his gut flora and Ph was all wonky and was keeping him susptible, as well as his Vitamin D reserves being depleted.