motherculture

What is Mother Culture?

Phrase coined by Karen Andreola in the book, A Charlotte Mason Companion.

Karen Andreola says that "a fresh wind of change will revive you when you participate in Mother Culture."

Mother culture means doing those things which bring you joy, improve your mind and spirit, or bring you peace. This may be reading something for yourself, doing needlepoint, painting or sketching...there is no set activity that will apply to all of us.

The universal is that we ALL need it. Many of us have been brought up to believe that we should not take time for ourselves, or circumstances may be such that we don't feel that we could possibly take a minute. We must fight against that feeling. It could be our undoing. If we really think about it and plan for it, we can find the time.

The idea is not to abandon hearth and home for extended periods of time. Take 10 minutes while the children are playing at the park and read a chapter. Take 10 minutes while they bathe and check your e-mail. Get up a little early and do something for yourself. Many homeschool Moms are up an hour before the rest of the family so that they have time to take a relaxing bath and read their Bible before the day begins. Others stay up a little later at night. Karen says, "10 minutes is sustantially more worthwhile than no time at all."

She quotes a woman who suggests keeping three books going at one time. "A stiff book, a moderately easy book, and a novel, and I always take up the one I feel fit for." A stiff book would be a challenging one. A moderately easy one might be a biography of a famous person, perhaps a Saint. For the novel, you might try a classic that you have not yet read.

Mothers don't have to be martyrs. When we try to be martyrs, we often transfer a burden to our families. The job of a Mother, whether full-time or part-time is a demanding one. We owe it to ourselves to keep up our friendships, to spend time doing the things we love, and to take care of ourselves.

One way to do this is to simplify. Karen discusses this in her book, which I recommend to you wholeheartedly.
Many Moms feel that they must do everything and do it perfectly. This is unrealistic for anyone.

Give yourself permission to be happy with who you are right now. Remember that your family is precious to you and that in order to be able to care for them, YOU have to be taken care of.

Click here to go to Amazon.com to buy Karen Andreola's book, A Charlotte Mason Companion.