The Accidental Trad Wife

A morning with mum 

I woke up early, no husband at home, no kiss at the door, but still a can of Monster in bed. 

My stomach pain has mostly gone, I still blame the hotdog. But I’m not going to give up on hotdogs altogether. Pain be damned.

My mum came round, and we headed out to do some very housewifely chores. Drop a package at the post office, pick up cleaning supplies, and get the necessary items to make my own ‘scent packs’ to put in cupboards and wardrobes. 

It seems the Trad Wife thing to do, is to make things more special than just picking up generic items. So rather than just buying some lavender sachets, I got some confetti bags, a load of rice, and some of my husband’s favourite essential oils to make DIY scent packs. It’s probably also more eco friendly, I won’t need to throw them out and buy more, I can just add a few more drops of oil when needed. 

After wandering round Home Bargains, Home Sense and Hobby Craft we decided to get some lunch.

What do I want to do with my life? 

We went to The Harvester for lunch, it’s cheap and cheerful and I enjoy a salad bar more than I’d admit. Also they have The Ned Sauvignon. 

We talked a bit about what I was going to do once the experiment has ended. And honestly, I still have no idea. What I do know, is that I need to stop LinkedIn notifications on my phone:

Every time one pings up I can feel my stress building. 

What I know for sure, is it’s nicer not working. And that’s not something I ever thought I’d say, as obvious as it is. I’ve said it before, and it’s true, but I really did love my job. But not being stressed, making a lovely home and spending more time with the people I love is better. Far better. We need income, I’ll almost certainly need to get another job. But I’m beginning to wonder whether it would be better to do something lower stress or part time so we still have the benefits of this new life. I didn’t think my view would change so much, but it is. Maybe it’ll stick, maybe it won’t. 

We went to M&S on the way back and I picked up some ingredients to make my husband a wonderful dinner tomorrow night. 

On the drive back home we were coming up with some new animals based insults. I often say: If you’re going to be a silly goose, get back in the pond. The best new one to the repertoire is: Make yourself useful and go dig up some truffles if you’re going to act like a pig. 

I’m looking forward to being able to drop one of our new insults into a conversation soon. 

I’ve finally done some ironing 

I made the scent packs when I got home, I’m really happy with how they’ve come out. My whole flat smells like essential oils now, that’s the warm homely vibe I wanted. 

With another documentary on in the background I started the usual cleaning. I’m converted to using a vinegar mix for the surfaces rather than polish, it lasts longer and cleans better. 

I’d been toying with getting a carpet shampooer. But we really just have one large Persian style rug I want to deep clean, so I decided to just clean the whole thing with one of those scrubbing stain remover brushes. It took ages, and it’s come up a treat. 

I then did something I’ve not done in a long time. I ironed. I didn’t iron everything, but I did iron some things. I didn’t hate it, with the TV on in the background it was quite relaxing. I don’t think I’ll start ironing everything, but maybe I’ll keep doing some things. I’ll find out tomorrow if my husband notices the difference. 

I kept cleaning on and off until about 8:30, then sat down with a glass of prosecco and ordered a takeaway. 

The Trad Wife round up:

Scent bags made: 15
LinkedIn notifications: off
If you’re being a silly goose: get back in the pond
Pizza: En route