by Tammie Kuhn

Created on: December 30, 2008

I was a career girl until a year and a half ago. I had a challenging career as vice president of sales. At the age of 38, I became a homemaker while pregnant with my youngest child. I don't think that culture shock begins to describe what I went through during the transition, it was a difficult at best. Being a homemaker is a tough job, frankly, it is harder than I imagined in many ways. The individual tasks aren't difficult in themselves, but when you look at the position in it's entirety it can be pretty overwhelming. I take my role seriously. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be the perfect cook, housekeeper, child wrangler, and wife. There are days when I want to tear my hair out, and days I feel like the only person on the planet over the age of 12. Generally speaking, however, I'm proud of what I do, and how I cope with the stresses of working and living at my job. I'm happy, I'm content, and I enjoy my life. Today, I can't imagine doing anything else.

Coping with the pressures of being a homemaker starts with defining your role, as well as your partner's. It requires communication between the adults in the household. Responsibilities need to be assigned, and expectations need to be clear. My husband and children are responsible for certain chores, as am I. If everyone is the household knows what is expected, a lot of frustration can be avoided.

Once the household chores have been assigned, there are other things you can do to ease your stress and enjoy your role;

* Don't expect anyone to notice the small things you do

No one is going to notice that you cleaned the baseboards or washed the windows. I know there was a lot of effort involved, but those little things are truly the ones that only you are going to notice. Look at it this way, if it isn't recognized that these things were done, they weren't blatantly in need of attention. This means that you are doing a good job!

* Have a schedule

I don't mean laying out all of your chores on a spreadsheet, that's just silly. (I admit that this comes from experience.) Instead, have a "must do" list of things that need to be accomplished on a weekly basis. Laundry and bathroom come to mind. It doesn't matter if I do these things on Monday or Friday, as long as it's accomplished within the week I have flexibility to do other, funner, things. Every day, I spend about 3 hours cleaning and doing other household chores. The rest of the day is mine (and my toddler's!) I mix it up, mopping floors one day, dusting another

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