Domesticated

I wasn't required to do many chores growing up. My mom always told me that once I was an adult, I'd have to do all the adult chores, so she wanted me to be a kid while I was still a kid. I really, really appreciate that to this day. She also told me that one day I'd understand why the chores were important, and that I'd actually want to do them when I had my own house and my own family to take care of.

And she was right. Of course.

I think because of all this, I'm finding the little things I accomplish to be a bigger deal to me than maybe they would be to others. Or maybe other young newlywed women feel/felt this way too. I don't know.

Take for instance, cooking our nightly dinners. Josh and I sit down to dinner together every night at the kitchen table. We established this from the first night we got home from our honeymoon. The challenge has been finding enough dinners that we both (read: Josh) likes so that I'm not repeating the same recipes every week. This has taken me quite awhile and with much input from my Mom... but I am now proud to say I am up to 24 dinners we rotate through.

Another example that's kind of silly is magazines. My parents always ordered magazines from me during drives we'd have in elementary and middle school - the ones where I'd win prizes for getting a certain number of subscriptions, etc. They would order their "grown-up" ones, and I got the typical childrens' ones. As I got older, they always got me Guideposts (which is an amazing little magazine).

Well, a few weeks ago, my co-worker's son was doing the same said magazine drive that I used to do. This is the first time I have ordered magazines for myself and I was really excited to pick them out. I was even more excited when I got my first issues of my "grown-up" magazines a few days ago: Real Simple - which covers how to simplify tasks like home organization and decorating, cooking, gift giving, and finances, and Cooking Light - which is a recipe magazine. I seriously think I jumped up and down a bit when I saw them lying on the kitchen counter.

And then yesterday and today, I made broccoli casserole and 7-layer salad, all by myself, to take to a pot-luck luncheon at work... I used both my Pampered Chef glass trifle bowl and my Pyrex casserole dish and warming carrier. I got both of these as gifts over the past year and felt like such a grown-up cooking and using them today. And, the best part was that my two dishes were completely gone by the end of the luncheon. Success.

My mom called me domesticated when I called and told her what I did... I was all excited like a little kid. I'm sure she got the same feeling as when I used to bring home things I had colored for her to hang on the fridge. Such typical, every day things to her, but to her daughter such a huge accomplishment. Too bad you can't hang 7-layer salad on the fridge.

Little things like these keep happening that probably should not excite me as much as they do. I guess I'm just finding that being a young newlywed wife is fun. I like doing the adult chores. I like taking care of our house, cooking, reading, organizing.... and cleaning.

This all kind of snuck up on me. But I'm glad it has. And I'm glad Mom was right.
Kim