by Pat Merewether

Created on: October 20, 2008   Last Updated: December 03, 2008

Show me a person who can keep track of a toddler, cook a meal, answer the phone and balance the check book - all at the same time, and you have some idea of the definition of a Domestic Engineer. We've been referred to as "just house wife" a "home maker" or most recently a "stay-at-home Mom (or Dad)". It bothers me when people use the 'stay-at-home' label because it sounds like they're rationalizing their choice. It's as if they're saying that if you're a mom or dad it's ok to be a home maker, but what if you don't have kids or they've grown and gone? Are we still aloud to stay at home? I hope so.

Domestic Engineering is a job that often starts at dawn and ends whenever we get everything finished, which is never. There is always one more load of laundry, or dishes in the sink, but that's not the most important part of the job - or life choice as I like to call it. The best part of being a domestic engineer is the feeling of being needed and the challenge of creatively mastering all the little unexpected occurrences that happen every day. It's learning to stretch a pound of ground meat into a meal that will feed six people, twice. It's mending a child's favorite toy or t-shirt. Its knowing that your home is a safe haven for your family and a pleasant and healthy place to live. It's a rewarding job that no amount of money could equal. It's satisfying, frustrating and sometimes down right scary! You try getting your own arm out of a ringer washer like my grandmother did, or deal with a house full of teenagers when there's a power outage. Talk about bravery.

One thing that people don't realize is that we domestic-engineers can never retire. My husband will retire one day and leave his job and worries behind. I, as a DE, will still be expected to shop, cook, clean, do laundry, decorate the house for the holidays and make small household repairs until they cart me off to the home. At least that's what Himself thinks, but that's another story. Actually, I'm kind of looking forward to that home!

I've always thought that domestic engineers make good CEO's or presidents. We have multi-tasking down to a fine art and manage to keep all the balls in the air. Well, most of the time. There was that time that I had a jar of baby food heating in a pan of water (yes, before microwaves) and forgot to loosen the lid. I was in the baby's room changing her diaper. There was a loud KABOOM! I rushed into the kitchen to find strained peas dripping from every surface. When my husband came home and found me scraping green stuff off of the ceiling, he didn't even ask, he knew better even way back then. There's nothing like a good old DE adventure to keep the juices flowing.

So, when you look around a home and if it's clean (sort of), there are clean clothes in the closets, clean dishes in the cupboards (or the dishwasher), food in the fridge, a healthy dog and cat lounging around somewhere and the utilities are still on because the bills were paid on time, it's all the result of professional Domestic Engineering.

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