The homemaker has the ultimate career, all others exist for it.

When I started writing about homemaking back in 2010, I never expected it to become a defining passion let alone a public one. I was simply writing to encourage and connect with other women like me; those who felt burnt out with the modern ways of womanhood. Chasing a career, burning the candle at both ends, and trying to “have it all” while secretly yearning for an old-fashioned existence. I did this anonymously for six years, because I felt embarrassed to admit that I just wanted to be a housewife.

Then when our son was born, I fully stepped into being “at home”, doing meaningful work behind the scenes, and wondering if anyone else noticed because these things were never talked about openly, or even publicly. Being a stay at home Mum while the children are small was generally accepted, but what was not accepted was staying home as a conviction and a calling. Over time, what began as a personal blog slowly grew into something more - a way of advocating for housewives like me, those wanting traditional marriages, and to step into the beauty of homemaking as a career.

The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only - and that is to support the ultimate career. C.S. Lewis

Isn’t it a shame that this quote by C.S. Lewis isn’t more widely accepted. We’ve forgotten the women who tend to lives behind our front doors, those who keep the home fires burning and delight themselves in making it a nice place to be.

We all need to live in homes, and I assume we all want nice ones. Where is the harm in a woman making hers into an art form?

In the last five years, I’ve spoken to press outlets all over the world, and written two books on things that really matter to me, and as I’ve since learned, matter to many more ladies too! I didn’t write them to set the world on fire, or with any great expectation at all, I wrote them because it was something on my heart.

These topics really really matter, and I just wish they were more openly talked about. Like women giving themselves grace and the permission to behave contrary to how modern culture defines a woman (including wanting to be treated like one, and desiring tradition), and many topics on general kindness and etiquette.

I just want to be a housewife

Lately though, I’ve also been passionate to share what it means to live intentionally at home, to honour traditional gender roles in a modern culture that often misunderstands them, and to remind others that choosing this life isn’t about stepping back - it’s about stepping into a role that offers peace, purpose, and connection. The interviews have varied - some curious, some skeptical - but they’ve all given me the chance to speak up for the quiet and deeply fulfilling work so many women do every day.

One that doesn’t offer pay, or promotion. No remuneration for your time in worldly reward, yet it pays you in moments of peace, of time that is your own and a life that cannot be purchased.

That’s one of the things I’ve learned to love the most about this life. There’s no script, no applause, no performance. Just real work. Real rhythms. Real care. Real contentment.

I’ve spent nearly two decades learning how to make a home. Even while employed, my focus was on building my home and my skills there, rather than corporate ones, and I have no regrets despite it feeling like I’ve been swimming against the tide this whole time.

I trust in the next chapter of my life, because I know the author. It’s not a risk to follow the desires of your heart, so long as they are wholesome, and your intentions are pure.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to build a home that feels like a safe harbour. There is nothing wrong with giving yourself grace, leaning into your femininity, natural rhythms, nourishing your body and soul, and finding joy in ordinary routines. There is nothing wrong with trusting your husband’s ability to lead and provide. Nothing wrong with wanting to care for your children yourself.

This life isn’t about performance or keeping up with the Joneses and the choices they are making. It’s most certainly not about the parameters that were set for you at school, or in a previous (or current) workplace.

It’s even okay to feel like this work is invisible sometimes, out of step with a world that glorifies your life “outside” of your family, but it’s never unimportant.

The more you lean into it, the less the expectations, pressures, and criticism that comes with it begin to matter. You have an incredibly important role at home, as a keeper, wife, and mother. The littlest of moments, and time spent caring for your loved ones is where your treasure and pleasure can be found. Little acts of daily beauty, like folding towels, doing dishes, keeping supper on a low simmer, washing chubby little faces, tending to scraped knees or overseeing homework, and welcoming a much loved spouse home after a hard day’s work. These are the things that quietly build a life, and a home.

This isn’t about perfection either, and I just wish that people could see through the current “Trad Wife Veneer” so popular online these days. That’s not real, people! My home gets messy. I get tired. I even get a little grumpy. But there’s something deeply grounding about living this way - with intention, with care, with focus on the small homely moments found in an otherwise busy world - always with the long view in mind. You’ll never regret pouring time into your family.

The world doesn’t always understand the work of homemaking, but that doesn’t make it less valuable. If anything, it makes it more important. And if you’re someone who’s chosen this path, or if you’re considering it, I just want you to know you’re not alone. You’re part of something real and lasting.

There are many different ways to live a life, and the life you build will be your legacy. You can make it what you choose, but make sure you choose what you deeply crave rather than what someone told you you should want.

Eighteen years in, I’m still learning. Still growing. Still folding the same laundry, still pouring the same coffee, still believing in the quiet power of home.

I once had a job outside of the home, but I chose the career of a homemaker - a career for which all others exist. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything!

With love,

A fellow keeper of the home