Attention homemakers!

So! I have been suffering a little bit from the January blues lately. Maybe because I am trapped inside wishing it was springtime now that the holidays are over with. Maybe it is because I am done with school now so I am transitioning into full time stay-at-home mom, and trying to figure out what that really means I'm supposed to do with my life.

I was on msn yesterday and found this article, entitled "The Happiness Habit." I want to focus primarily on the first item on the list because when I read it, it sounded like it could possibly solve all my problems!

Teaming up for chores. "In early America, barn raisings were feats of incredible productivity but also wonderful social occasions. Sue Merriman, 54, a landscape designer and full-time mom, has given the idea a modern twist. Every Wednesday she gets together with her friend Devra Laner, 47; sometimes another friend joins them.

The women alternate houses, and the host picks a task that's time-consuming, difficult to pull off alone, or just no fun—and therefore never gets done. Any project is allowed, although as Sue says, "At first, nobody thinks they can invite friends over to clean the grease out from under the
stove."

The women have done a lot of cleaning, organizing, and gardening in the past three years, but the work's been companionable instead of onerous—full of laughter and talk. "We wanted to be able to see each other and we had to get things done," Sue says. "So we decided to do both."

So who's with me!? Seriously, who!? Think we could really do something like this? Think we could get over our pride enough to let someone come help us clean and cook and garden and then turn around and go do the same thing at their house?? Could you let someone come and do your household chores with you and avoid picking up the house before their arrival? Could you avoid cleaning before you clean?

Along these same lines, as some of you know while I was pregnant I read a book called, The Continuum Concept. I was introduced to it in my infant psychology and development class. I was completely fascinated by it. "Jean Liedloff, an American writer, spent two and a half years deep in the South American jungle with Stone Age Indians. The experience demolished her Western preconceptions of how we should live and led her to a radically different view of what human nature really is. She offers a new understanding of how we have lost much of our natural well-being and shows us practical ways to regain it for our children and for ourselves." She feels in our society of intellectualism, indulgence and modern technological advances, we are overlooking our most fundamental needs. Sure, some of her theories may be a little out there for you... but others really strike a chord and feel true and right. At least for me.

One of the concepts that she touches on is the natural need for women to be among women. That originally, we were tight knitted communities that shared everything. She talks about the need to find our own "tribe" in modern day society, and that just because our culture is radically different than the group of people she studied; our most basic needs as human beings are not, and that our nature is not programmed for isolation. I do agree with her there. Read more here, this article is entitled, "Finding Your Tribe: Feed Your Soul while Feeding Your Kids." This stuff totally rivets me. Some good food for thought.