Homemaker Portrait | Judy Watters - The Art of Home: A Podcast for Homemakers

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Allison (00:00):
Do you view your homemaking more as a goal to
arrive at or as a process toenjoy? In today's episode, we
talked to a woman who views theordinary daily events of life as
teachers, leading us along apath to learning the universal
lessons of life. And we caneither resent and fight or we
can enjoy and embrace theprocess of growth. Hello,

(00:25):
homemakers and welcome to TheArt of home podcast where we are
exploring how homemakerscultivate a place to belong. I'm
your host Allison weeks. I'm awife. I'm a mom to four grown
kids and I am in my 30th year ofhomemaking. Okay, I thought I
would give you guys a couple offun facts each episode to help
you get to know me a little bitbetter. So here's two things I

(00:48):
love and one thing I hate. Ilove gardenias it's my favorite
flower. Well, one of myfavorites. Probably have the
fragrant flowers. It's myfavorite. And that's one of the
things I love about them is thefragrance and if I could grow
them here, I can't grow themhere in San Antonio. But if I
could, I would and I wouldalways have a bowl of freshly

(01:09):
cut gardenia blossoms floatingin water on my kitchen counter
because they smell amazing. Soanother thing I love is the
smell in the air after arainstorm. I don't enjoy the
rainstorm so much, but I lovehow the air smells when the rain
has come through. Especially ifthere are gardenias growing in
the yard outside. And I hateblack licorice. I cannot

(01:33):
tolerate the flavor. I don'tknow what it is, but it's just
disgusting to me. So I alsoreally don't like fennel and I
have a hard time with anise seedas well. So there you go.
There's a few fun facts aboutme. If you're new to the
podcast, welcome. We are so gladyou found us. We drop new
episodes every other Wednesdayand we are all about encouraging

(01:55):
you in your practice of the artof home. If you're a regular
around here, thank you so muchfor listening and sharing this
podcast with your homemakerfriends. That's one of the best
ways to help us reach morehomemakers with these amazing
stories. So we thank you. Intoday's episode, I'm talking
with Judy Watters about herhomemaking journey from starry

(02:15):
eyed young married optimist tosingle lady to her second
marriage to kids and beyond. Wediscuss how homemaking is a
process and no matter how longyou do it, you never really
arrive. So why not embrace andenjoy the process and see what
life circumstances are meant toteach us. Judy is a retired
English teacher. She's apublished author and a writing

(02:38):
coach who is passionate abouthelping people write down their
story. In order to leave alegacy for generations to come.
I had the joy of reading herdelightful memoir of her early
childhood and their small familyfarm in Pennsylvania. It's a
childhood that Judy describes asa mixture of Little House on the
Prairie and Green Acres. Judy'spublished many other books,
including two more memoirs, andthe first book in a new mystery

(03:02):
series for middle gradechildren. So that's fun.
Throughout our conversation,Judy reminds us that the process
has lessons for us if we're justpaying attention enough to
notice them. And once noticed,Judy would absolutely implore
you to write them down. Sowhether you're folding laundry
or washing baby bottles, we knowyou will enjoy Judy's story of

(03:24):
home. I am here today with myfriend Judy Watters. And Judy,
before we go back to thebeginning of your homemaking
story, why don't you just tellus a little bit about who you
are today.

Judy Watters (03:35):
Oh my today number one is my grandbaby Sydney joy.
And she is definitely a joy. ButI had to wait until I was 70
years old to get that littlegrant. But my husband and I are
truly enjoying every bit ofgrandparenting today. But I

(03:55):
retired from teaching Englishback in 2013 then helped to
start a private school Christianschool, got them accredited. And
since then in my secondretirement. I work with cancer
patients and Alzheimer'spatients to help them write
their story through theirjourney. And then I lead the

(04:19):
legacy writers I lead critiquewriting group at the library.
And I'm a lead evaluator forcognitive accreditation of
schools throughout the state ofTexas. I think that's about it.
I'm a board member for theschool, and a very active with
the Chamber of Commerce.

Allison (04:37):
You are a busy lady.

Yes, Iguess I am.
But you know, busyness keeps mehappy, I think.

Allison (04:45):
All right. So let's go back to the beginning. When did
you first become a homemaker?

Well, that's a little convoluted. My original
forever plan when I was in highschool was that I would make my
forever her husband settleddown, have six children have a
beautiful home and live happilyever after. Instead, I was
married for three years, anddivorced after two miscarriages,

(05:14):
so after, but after 12 years ofbeing by myself, I met my
forever husband, Larry. So weactually I have to say my true
homemaker days started in 1984.

Allison (05:31):
Okay with Larry.

With Larry. Yes, yes.

Allison (05:38):
So when you started keeping your own home in
whatever form? Did you just haveto dive right in with no, with
no knowledge of what you weredoing? Or did you have any kind
of skills under your belt?

No, my mom was a great homemaker. We lived on a
farm in Pennsylvania. And shedid everything from, you know,
mowing the hay to taking care ofthe garden to sewing our clothes
when we were young, and, youknow, canning and all that good
stuff that a farmer's wife does.
She pies and cakes andeverything else. So I learned

(06:15):
from her. Right. My father was achef by profession. I did not
learn from him because he madethe more fancy things. And he
always cooked for a huge group,you know, so my mom didn't like
him cooking in her kitchen. Butanyway. And then my sister, she
truly followed in my system, mymom's footsteps. My sister has a

(06:40):
neat house. It's spotless, youknow, and she's a wonderful
cook. And, I mean, she givesparties and things like that
that you know, mom used to do.
And then she does everything.
Well, just like mom did. I'mvery much the opposite.

Allison (07:00):
So would you say that your skills that you gained in
the area of keeping a home werelike from the school of hard
knocks?

Probably Probably yes. I think, you know, cleaning
and cooking, and I do like tobake. But that was none of that
was my forte. I wanted to beactually as a child, I wanted to
be out in the field with myfather. Yeah. When my sister was
excited Saturday morning to getup and clean the bathrooms and
vacuum and everything. I made itout into the hay field with my

(07:31):
father as quick as I could. Andstayed out there most of the
day. That's great.

Allison (07:37):
Yeah, it's really cool.
So what was the steepestlearning curve for you? As far
as the home keeping the home?
What was the hardest thing foryou to learn how to do? Well,

um, I think probably the meals. I think I've
always been very unsure of that.
And so every day my husbandwould leave for work, I'd say,
What do you want for dinnertonight? Because it wasn't
creative enough to think ofdinner spice. And whatever he
said, you know, that, you know,and now it's gotten to where he

(08:10):
said, What do you want? I'dstill say, I always What do you
want for dinner tonight? I'llsay, I don't care. And that
doesn't help much. You know,this ends up being maybe cereal
or bologna sandwich or somethinglike that. I ended up with a few
staples, you know, I did chiliand sloppy joes and meatloaf.
And I did chicken tortilla soupand spaghetti and lasagna. I did

(08:33):
have some that I really did.
Well, God didn't stray fromthose and Larry didn't like he
doesn't like fish or chicken.
Okay, so me, you know, meat, wasit.

Allison (08:48):
And you live in the right place for beef? Yes,
that's true. That's true. That'sgood. But that's really good
advice. Because sometimes, youknow, we just need to know our
limits and where we, where wethrive and where we don't
necessarily thrive and you'refeeding your family, but you're
not taxing yourself. That's

right, that we're not skinny many. So we were
good. We were good. That'sgreat.

Allison (09:10):
Well, let's talk a little bit about balance. Did
you ever work outside the home?

I did. I did. In fact, I worked for a
homebuilder. Actually as anoffice manager until my second
child was born, okay. I went towork. I was supposed to be back
in two weeks. I was back to workafter Aaron was born one week

(09:36):
after he was born. And thenafter she was born, he said,
Well, I want you back a weeklater, and I said, I'm gonna
make it too. So he said, Okay,very nice boss. Very nice. But
the building industry goes on,you know, right. You know, so I
went back the first day and Isaid, Ed, I can't do this. I'm
done. Oh, so I went home andtold my husband Guess what,

(10:00):
we're down to one income now.
Actually cut our income in half.
So I went out and bought somecloth diapers, this was 1988 and
figured I was going to really,you know, make my pennies count.
Use those for about a month. Andthen that ended. I went back to

(10:21):
the other divers. But I told myhusband, I was not going to go
back until the children were outof school. Well, that didn't
quite happen either. When ouryoungest, I did homeschool a few
years, and then when ouryoungest was in kindergarten, I
went back and I went into salesfor a few years before I went
back to teaching.

Allison (10:42):
Wow, I'm sure that was that was probably such a huge
shock to have your income cut inhalf like that. And were there
other things besides the clothdiapers that you learned how to
do? Because I'm recollecting andwe're going to talk about this
some more later. But I'm, I'vejust listened to your memoir
that covers your early years andgrowing up on the farm and your
parents were like, pros atstretching and skinny. Yeah. So

(11:07):
I'm wondering how much thatrubbed off on you.

You know what, you're right, because we did a
lot of garage saleing. All of alot of their clothes came from
garage sales. And the kids hadfun. Yeah, they had fun. And I
took up selling Avon. Okay, so Iwould take the little red wagon,
down one street and up theother. Aaron was five, when we

(11:31):
started that Kyle was just thebaby. So I wrapped them in a
blanket in the little red wagon.
Emily was three. And Emily wentwith me on one side of the
street. Well, Aaron went on theother and I gave him a stack of
Avon books and a tablet. And Isaid you just ask tell them
mommy selling Avon would you putyour name and your phone number
here and give them a book. Andeveryone took a book from him.

(11:53):
He was so cute horse. And thenwhen it came Emily on my side of
the street, I sent her to thedoor while I was stayed on the
sidewalk with Kyle in the wagon.
And you could not understand herOh, she'd go up and say I'm on
my mama my my mommy mom, bla blabla bla bla, and hand the tablet

(12:14):
to them. And they just laugh andthey'd sign their name and the
phone number and I gave each ofthem 25 cents for every new
customer. Then we could go to agarage sale and they could buy
the toys they

Allison (12:28):
want. I love that story. That's, that's creative.
You're teaching your kids theseskills. That's really good.

And you know, my daughter is a surgeon today. And
she still she just texted me theother day and she says, I think
I have to buy a toaster. Shesays I don't want to spend the
money on a toaster. I'm thinkingyou're a surgeon you can afford
that. Oh

Allison (12:52):
my goodness. So they've they've they're thrifty. Yes.
Okay. Yes. And that's not a badthing.

It's not.

Allison (12:59):
It's a very good skill to have. Yes, yeah, that's
really great. Well, I love thatstory. Thank you so much for
sharing that. Now one of thethings we have to balance as
homemakers particularly ifyou're working outside the home,
or you're running a side gig,like an Avon business or
something like that is justgetting everything done and
scheduling and and how did youmanage that?

Sometimes I didn't, but I was an older mom.
I was 36 when I had Aaron 38When I had Emily and 41 When I
have cut and so I manage and butI had managed a sales
organization prior to that ofhave like 400 people, okay. And

(13:46):
it was not, not anywhere near asdifficult as handling three
little ones under the age offive. It was and sometimes I
felt like I was I always likenedit to being a circus ringmaster.
Yeah, and had all three rings goon at the same time. And they
were all out of control, falloff control. And that's where I

(14:07):
stayed was the, you know, not incontrol. And I remember I tried
to there in the 80s it was a bigtime of homeschooling. And
everyone around me washomeschooling. And they were
going to this field trip and onthat field trip going here and
there and unset How do you dothat? I have to get my I have to

(14:29):
get dinner made. I have to youknow, get the kids they have to
learn to read and writesometime. Right? We can't be
going to the Alamo every otherday. And it was very hard. But I
love being with the kids. Ithink it was just playing games
with the kids, whether it'scounting or ABCs or whatever.

(14:49):
But it was a fun time because Ijust liked being a kid again, I
guess. Yeah.

Allison (14:55):
That's great. So what about your spiritual Life as a
mom as a working mom, or just amom with the three ring circus
going on, and you know, we knowwe need to get filled up so that
we can do what we need to do.
But it's hard to prioritize itand keep all the other
priorities in their right place.
Right? How did how did youmanage that?

Well, at the time of bringing the kids when they
were really young, I, we went toa church in Northwest San
Antonio that was just full oflittle children and young moms.
I was one of the older moms, butmy kids were the same age as
theirs. And I taught a women'sBible study pretty much wrote,

(15:37):
you know, wrote out what Iwanted to say, you know, and I
think that just getting me itgot me up at five in the morning
before the kids were up so thatI could have some quiet time.
Yeah. And could get my gatheredmy thoughts. It didn't always
work, because Emily was usuallyup with me, right. So but I

(15:58):
think that helped and having theBible studies at the church,
whether I taught them or not,there were other women who
taught Bible studies that reallyhelped. I think just the other
women, the camaraderie, yeah,that we had. And the prayer for
each other, were helped a lot

Allison (16:20):
to have helped a lot.
Definitely. Now we go into ourhomemaking with sort of ideals
and ways that we think it mightlook and expectations and
sometimes real life matches thatand and sometimes it doesn't. So
what about you did your life asa as a homemaker and a mom and a
wife? And did that match whatyou thought it was going to look
like?

Well, I think my view my husband, my high school,
high school days of homemaking,you know, was included singing
birds and my true love and mealong with our six children
skipping down the flowered lane.
You know, in reality, homemakinghad its has its ups and downs.
There really does. I remember atone Co Op, mommy group, I was at

(17:06):
the home of this mom who had sixchildren, she actually had six
children. I was envying her,because I knew I wouldn't have
six children. But I asked her,Sarah, how do you do it? How do
you keep your house clean? Yourkids are looking clean? They

(17:28):
look highly, highly intelligent.
You know, you're you have ahappy husband. How do you do it
all? She was homeschooling allsix kids? Yeah. And she said,
Oh, my goodness, my one rule ofthought is you never ever, ever
mop your kitchen floor until youstart sticking to it. And I

(17:50):
loved that, because I didn'tlike to clean anyway. So I
really held to that one. I likethat a lot. Yes. And so that
really worked. I'll never forgetthat piece of advice. But yeah,
in reality, you know, there'sjust so many ups and downs
there. You know, kids havetemper tantrums, you know,
husbands aren't always as happyas you'd like them to be, or you

(18:10):
say something wrong, or theycome home tired, and you're
tired. And so yeah, all makinghas ups and downs. But in the
long run, I think I, I am astrong believer in what my mom
always taught me and that wehave to enjoy the process. And
it may not always look neat andclean, then. But we have to

(18:33):
enjoy that process. And we'renever going to be perfect. It's
a process. Yeah. So I think Ihad to remind myself of that
many times, many times. That'sgood.

Allison (18:46):
Good word of advice there. So are there any
particular special challengesthat you had to face as a
homemaker? And if so, how didyou? How did you meet those
challenges or deal with them?

Well, I think this comes back to this was my second
marriage, my husband secondmarriage, okay. And we were
determined to make it work. Butby the time I came into my
second marriage, I'd been singlefor 12 years, I had sold two
houses, investment properties,I'd won cars and lots of other

(19:20):
stuff in sales world. But Ireally longed for that husband
to take charge of the bills, thetaxes, the investments, whatever
I wanted him to do at all. Andyet I wasn't ready to give it
all up. Oh, so he had beensingle for a while I had been
single for a while and so thethe knocking heads and trying to

(19:44):
figure out and because I wasolder we had children right
away. So it didn't give us time.
Yeah, to really get to know eachother and to fall that deeply in
love with each other to where wetrusted each other with
finances. Yeah. smells andthings like that. Yeah. But over
the years, I realized, you know,it took me a while. But I had to
finally let go and let God andwhatever Larry decided to do, I

(20:11):
felt that's what we needed todo. Yeah. So but it took my
growing to realize that

Allison (20:21):
you feel like you came to a place of, of peace in that
area with him. Always took sometime. Yeah,

it took some time.
Yeah. But I think that was thebiggest, the biggest challenge.
We both love the kids. And youknow that. I can't say that was
a challenge. I mean, later teenyears, maybe. But the little
ones? No.

Allison (20:44):
Okay. Well, let's talk for a little bit about
hospitality. Now, hospitality isjust kind of comes with the job,
you have a home and you're goingto have people in your home
people live here. And we showhospitality to one another
within the home, and then weshow it to other people that
come visit us. So how aboutshowing hospitality to one

(21:05):
another to your husband, yourchildren? How did you guys do
that as a family?

Well, we all of our meals were eaten together to
start with, we always atetogether. But I think other
traditions, we were a familythat did a lot with other
families. We had one family whowe did pizza with after church
every Sunday, we had anotherfamily where we did the fff 's,

(21:33):
the forced family fun on Fridaynights. Okay, what is that? This
other family what it was eitherat their house or ours, we'd
chat and we, you know, whatever.
It went back and forth. But theywould invite a family, we would
invite a family and we would itwas Friday night, we do a games
like squash or games that thewhole family could play that all

(21:57):
all the family members couldplay. And the kids had to have
fun. It was forced family fun.
And I was on Friday night. Andthe kids really looked forward
to it. Okay. And sometimes itwas just the two families and
that worked a lot better really,because they had three children,
we had three children. And I doremember one time when we were

(22:23):
playing, that was squash whereyou made your little bugs out of
Play Doh, and then you got tosquash each other's bug. And
Emily made the another Davidcry. Oh, no. Which and his daddy
was not happy with the family.
Cuz she's kept squashing his hisbugs. But you know, we had to
remind them that it was fun.

Allison (22:44):
You are going to have fun, you're going to have a
scorched. It's forced familyfun.

That's right.

Allison (22:51):
That's hilarious. What about hospitality to your kids
friends or anything like that.

We had a corner lot. And San Antonio, the
biggest lot in the neighborhood.
And we had a huge fork. And soour house seemed to be the
gathering place for all theneighborhood kids. And we were
in a cul de sac. And soeverybody came with their bikes,
they'd like to go up in the bigfort. And I was the one baking

(23:17):
the cookies and making the thoselittle ice pops or whatever they
were to hand out to all thekids. And it seems that when we
moved out to the country that wemoved out to the hill country
when Aaron was I think he was 12or 13. And it continued. We
still had kids come and Iremember building this house and

(23:41):
I told my husband, I wanted ahuge deck on the back so that
kids could come. Well, wecouldn't afford it at the time.
So it never got built on but westill had kids come and even to
the point Aaron went to his HillBible School in comfort. And he
would bring internationalstudents every weekend to spend

(24:03):
the weekend and have some homecooked meals. And I remember one
weekend we had 10 Kids, kids,you know 20 something. Yeah,
yeah, laying on floors, sleepingin sleeping bags, or under my
quilts, you know, on the diningroom floor, you know, whatever.
They were all over the place,you know, but they had fun. And

(24:25):
so I love that. I love that hehe liked bringing his friends
home even at that age.

Allison (24:32):
Yeah, and he felt comfortable to do that. Yeah.
Yeah, really.

And all three of them did that right up to the
time they left home. Yeah.

Allison (24:40):
Well, that that says that you set a tone with your
children, you know where theyfelt comfortable here and so
then they felt they could bringtheir friends here. Good
achievement.

Well, even when my daughter went to medical school,
she's in San Antonio. And I havepictures of her, her friends
around this table studying formedical, you know, you know,
yeah, they are studying to bedoctors in there. Yeah, Emily
brought them home. So that wasfun.

Allison (25:10):
That's a good legacy.
Yeah. Well, let's talk a littlebit about the seasons of
homemaking. How do you feel likeyour role as a homemaker, as a
keeper of the home has changedover time?

What when the kids started leaving home, there
seemed to be a little more timeto do other things. I've always
been a busy person. Thatprobably comes from my mom who
got it from her father. The Idlehands are the devil's
playground. So I was teachinghigh school English as my kids

(25:47):
started leaving home. Yeah. AndI got into writing. And I
started writing books and didn'tknow where that was going. But
ended up you know, to where Iended up with three. Three
memoirs, middle school, mysterybook now and quite a few low

(26:09):
content books or puzzle books,coloring books, things like
that. It's just got to be a realhobby. But it's a fun,
profitable hobby.

Allison (26:17):
Yeah. Yes. So I finished your memoir just about
a week and a half ago. And Iloved it.

Oh, thank you.

Allison (26:25):
I'm gonna recommend everybody go get it. It's called
the road home. Hmm. And itcovers from, your very early
years... So up to about you said10 years old,

probably about 10 years old. Yeah, it's kind of I
always thought my childhood wasa cross between Green Acres and
Little House on the Prairie. Youknow,

Allison (26:44):
I would agree with that.

Yeah, my father knew nothing about farming
coming from New York City, youknow,

Allison (26:51):
And his story. I mean, I love that you went back even
and told your father's storyfrom his early beginnings and
living in the Jewish orphanage.
And yes, I mean, that that storyin itself was just so amazing.
Yeah. And yeah, and of allthings, how he went from there
and ended up in thisPennsylvania, tiny little farm.
It's just really cool. Yeah, itwas a really cool.

It was a fun childhood. Yeah, it really was.
Yeah. But he, I think throughwatching him, not knowing it at
the time. But I think I I grewup with that can do it spirit.
You know, anything you put yourmind to, you can do it. So some
of it, you may not do perfectlywell. But you can do it.

(27:35):
Whatever you set your mind to.

Allison (27:37):
Yeah. So you've written three memoirs now? I mean, and
you said, you just kind ofstarted writing. So you didn't
have a desire to write like,when you were younger?

Well, I've always written? I think I've always
written from childhood days, youknow,

Allison (27:52):
Kept diaries?

I did, I did early. I don't have any of my
own. I have lots of my mom's andmy great grandfather. I don't
have any of my own. But Istarted telling stories from the
farm when I was putting the kidsto bed at night. Oh, and they
would say, tell me a story. Mom,tell me a story about when you

(28:14):
were a little girl on the farm.
And I started telling thesestories, and they seem to enjoy
them. Or tell me that storyagain, mommy about and they
would, you know, remember thestory. And when I taught women's
Bible studies, I'd tell a storyhere and a story there. And I
had women who would say you needto write a book, you really need

(28:38):
to put this down in a book. Sothat's when that started melding
and gelling in my head.

Allison (28:47):
Yeah. I love that the stories grew out of bedtime
stories that you told yourchildren. Yeah, that is really
amazing. So what if so there'ssomebody listening, and they
think, Oh, I wish I could dothat with my kids. But maybe
they didn't grow up, you know,Little House on the Prairie
style slash green acres. So, doyou have any tips, you know, for

(29:08):
sort of, because I know that'spart of your business is helping
people to write and even towrite memoirs themselves? So
what would be your tip to maybethe young mom or homemaker who's
listening?

Well, I did have a lady come to me after she'd read
my book. And she said, You know,I related to every story that
you told us, she says, I grew upin New York City in a high rise
apartment. But I could relate toit because the way I wrote it
was, according to less lessons,universal lessons we all learn.

(29:41):
So to an aspiring author outthere. If they can pick up on
any lesson they've learned inlife. And think back. How did
they learn that lesson? How didthey learn the lesson that your
name is something to protect?
How did they learn that honestyis the best way to go or to, to
cherish and, and, and enjoy yourheritage? How how did they learn

(30:07):
that lesson? And everyone has astory. Yeah, behind every
universal lesson that they'velearned.

Allison (30:17):
That's so great. And that's something that we all
want to pass on to our children.

Definitely that's all part of leaving your legacy.
And you know, on my YouTubechannel, I encourage people, you
have a story to tell. So get itwritten down for your children,
your grandchildren, your greatgrandchildren to come.

Allison (30:37):
That's so great. And we're going to have links to all
of Judy's all the places you canfind her out on the interwebs
and YouTube channel and whereyou can get copies of her books
and your website. We're going tolink all of that in the show
notes and on your blog post forthis episode.
We will get back to duty storyin just a few minutes. Right now

(30:58):
it's time for historicalhomemaker hints. This is the
part of the podcast where wehighlight some of the helpful
and not so helpful hints doledout to homemakers throughout
history. Today's hints come frompractical suggestions for mother
and housewife by Marion MillsMiller, published in 1910. Four
chapters of this book arededicated to the various aspects

(31:18):
of setting up a home fromchoosing where to live, what
kind of dwelling to choose thelayout of the rooms to the
furnishings of those rooms. MissMiller has advice for all of it,
she gives some practicalsuggestions regarding the
bathroom. In view of theimportance of sanitation, more
thought than is ordinarilyallotted to it should be given

(31:39):
the lavatory. When there is roomto spare, it is best to have the
bath separate from the toilet inorder to prevent inconvenience
in use. [Amen to that!] Thewalls of the laboratory should
be tiled, or if this is tooexpensive, they should be
covered with waterproof paper.
All toilet arrangements shouldbe systematically kept clean,
and the necessary supplies atall times provided. I completely

(32:01):
agree, Marion. I keep thesupplies that I need to clean my
bathroom wait for it... in mybathroom, I am so much more
likely to do a quick cleanup ifI have everything right there
when I need it. So that means Ihave to regularly check and make
sure that I'm stocked up insteadof waiting until I have a huge
mess right in front of me thatneeds immediate attention only

(32:24):
to realize that I am out ofcleaning solution or there's no
cleaning cloths in there orwhatever. If you're blessed to
have a designated guest room,Marion and offers these words of
wisdom, money spent on the guestroom beyond that necessary to
make it simply the best bedroomin the house brings smaller
returns in usage than anywhereelse. The average guest is more

(32:47):
pleased with a room such as hesleeps in himself at home than
with one where elegance seems tofind for the use. In other words
when it comes to cultivating aspace for guests whether it be a
dedicated room or just atemporary space with a pullout
couch. Aim for comfort above allelse, by all means make it
pretty, but not so fine that theguest is afraid to use it less

(33:10):
he spoil it. And finally,regarding the dining room decor
Miss Miller suggests the

following, (33:19):
china and glassware and silver arranged in proper
array in wall closets, cabinetsand sideboards are the most
appropriate decorations of thedining room. It is not at all
necessary that there should bepictures on the wall of game,
fruit and flowers, or still lifestudies of vegetables and
kitchen utensils. Indeed, thesehave become so expected that a

(33:41):
change is quite a relief to aguest, who would welcome even
the Death's Head that was theinvariable ornament of the
Egyptian feasts. Any pictureswhich are lively and cheerful in
suggestion are suitable. Thosethat have a story to tell or a
lesson to point to are never outof place in a room frequented by
children. While, Marion phrasedit slightly differently, this

(34:03):
idea of something being "like aDeath's Head at a feast" was a
phrase meant to denote a personor an event that brings gloom or
sadness to an occasion of joy orcelebration. I don't know, I
quite like a moody still life ofcopper pots and vegetables. I
wonder if Marion would haveapproved of a playful scene of

(34:23):
Dogs Playing Poker, or perhaps avelvet Elvis? Well, that's it
for today's historical homemakerhints. As always, please
remember, this segment is forentertainment purposes only. And
I leave it to you, the listener,to determine the safety and
soundness of this advice. Nowback to Judy's story.

(34:44):
So you've written these memoirsyou've written lots of neat
little puzzle books and coloringbooks and some really fun things
like that. You've written a bookabout aging well, right. And
that's from the perspective ofyour mother.

Yeah, that was a fun one. Because Mom was... I
capitalized on the idea thatordinary people can do
extraordinary things in life.
And mom was a farmer's daughterbecame a farmer's wife. Very,
very ordinary person. But shetouched hundreds of people with

(35:18):
her very simple way of livingher simple, just she was very
sweet, very sweet. And so everystep of the aging process, she
did well, she saw in a positivelight, she sold her farm after
daddy died, even though youknow, Daddy was the love of her

(35:41):
life. And when he passed away,she was 60 years old. But she, I
mean, she said one thing that,you know, Daddy never lied to
her. Until he said he would livewith her forever and ever. And
that just, you know, and fromthen on, she had to kind of

(36:02):
straighten up and take on this100 acre farm that she was left
with. And she didn't do thatvery well. She was just beside
herself, because mom and daddyhad worked together, right, all
their married life, that was atogether thing. So when he
passed on, though, she sold thefarm and moved to San Antonio,

(36:24):
but she saw as a whole new lifeopening up to her a whole new
world. And she'd sit in mysister's house at night, in the
upstairs bedroom where they hadmade it into her sewing room.
And she'd look at all thetraffic by the medical center
where they lived. And she'd say,Isn't that beautiful? I remember

(36:45):
going up one night, and I said,What are you looking at mom? She
has all those lights. And youheard the sirens going into the
ambulance? And I said, Yeah, youknow, the word by a hospital?
And she says it's justbeautiful. Oh. And I said, Don't
you miss the farm? I said, No, Idon't. She said, I I enjoyed

(37:06):
that life. But this is a newlife. Why she says it's
beautiful out there. So shewould sit and make stories up of
where people were going. Wonderwhere they're going in that car.
I wonder how that person in thatambulance got hurt, you know,
and she'd sent a little prayerup for you know, but you know,
the time when she had to give upher car keys, she saw it in a

(37:29):
positive light, it was muchbetter for everyone else cuz she
was gonna run in. So it's agreat it's done in the form of
comical little stories abouther. And then a space for people
to write their own idea of howthey did it your their rendition
of how they went through it.

(37:50):
Okay,

Allison (37:51):
So who would you say this that this is for really,
the audience?

Unknown (37:54):
This is boing to be for senior citizens or for people
like yourself who want to buy itfor your parents. Because it
actually is... we all you know,we're not getting out of this
life standing...so there's evena place to plan your own
funeral.

Allison (38:08):
Oh, that's fantastic.

So there's a place to write your own obituary, to
write what songs you want songor played, the pastor you want
there or whatever, writeeverything down. And then I
instruct them to put it in withtheir will or let their loved
ones know where that book is.
Because it would be a gift fortheir loved ones because we went

(38:31):
through it with my dad when hepassed away and it was not, not,
not fun. It was not not good.

Allison (38:39):
Well, that's a fantastic resource and and your
mother sounds like a really justa really neat lady.

She was. She passed away last May at the age
of 99. And was just blessed withhaving her for so many years.

Allison (38:51):
Yeah, yeah. Fantastic.
And then this latest thing thatyou've published, why don't you
tell us a little bit about thisbook.

The Mystery in the Jackson House is based on a true
story. There was an old hauntedhouse what we thought was
haunted house back in ourneighborhood back in
Pennsylvania. And my brotheractually stayed overnight in the
attic one time and found somecomic books up there. So that's

(39:18):
where this came from.

Allison (39:20):
I love it. Okay. And so it's called again, let me make
sure we got the title; Mysteryin the Jackson House. And this
is you said for middle grade

For middle grades well and probably goes up to
high school.

Allison (39:31):
Okay. And this is number one in what's going to be
a series a series?

A series; of the Triple Dog Dare. Triple Dog
Dare Series.

Allison (39:40):
I love that.

Have you ever heard of a triple dog dare?

Allison (39:42):
Yes, I have! That's really awesome. We're huge
Christmas Story fans. We watchthat movie every year. You know,
the triple dog there and there'sa whole you know, you have to do
the double dog dare then thetriple dog dare....Love it.
Well, thank you for sharingabout that and all the links
will be in the show notes. Sowhat does your homemaking look
like in this season that you'rein right now? How are how are

(40:04):
you still growing andchallenging yourself to learn
new things?

Well, I don't know about growing and challenging
myself, but the major change isprobably in my cooking. You
know, I love you know so much.
But I only cook two or threetimes a week now. And we live on
leftovers. And we go out a lotwith friends. Larry and I clean
house together because we'reboth retired. And we travel a
lot with France and with thefamily. And our greatest joy, of

(40:31):
course, is having Sydney joyhere, a little grandbaby. Every
Monday, we get to have her here.
And we just spend the whole dayloving on her and watching her
little sweet antics,

Allison (40:44):
and teaching her how to bake. And yeah, and she's how
old?

She is 15 months.
And so she has a whole series ofbooks coming up. I did one in
the first the adventures ofSydney joy and baking day with
grandma Juju. And then she has afew more books coming.

Allison (41:01):
Are you going to, are those published?

The first one is published.

Allison (41:05):
Very cool. I love how you turn all of these things
into books. It's just fantastic.
So how are you intentionallypassing on the things you've
learned in your journey? To thethe people who are coming behind
you?

I don't know if I'm doing anything
intentionally. But I do hopethat younger women who have
maybe watched my I don't know,have watched me and my style of
parenting or whatever. will pickup the importance of laughing
and enjoying their kids. Yeah.
And and just the enjoying theprocess of it all. Yeah. And

(41:42):
that nothing, nothing. Nothingis going to be perfect. So you
do it the best you can. Yeah.
And then you smile at the rest.
And you let it go. So it's justthe process. That's what I love
about homemaking about being amom a wife is that we learn
every step of the way.

Allison (42:04):
Yeah. You've never really arrived.

No, you never do.

Allison (42:07):
You're always learning

Not the sight of heaven. That's for sure.

Allison (42:10):
Yeah. That's good.
That's a good word. Let's gointo our rapid fire. Quick
answer time on homemaking tasks.
All right. So how about ahomemaking task that you love?

Well, for me it's fun with the kids playing with
the kids reading to the kidsjust being with the kids.

Allison (42:31):
About one that you hate.

Other than cooking... is cleaning. I have
to be honest, I'm throwing itout there. I'm honest.

Allison (42:41):
That's good. That's good. What about up homemaking

Oh the time I tried to grate cheese for the
fail?
first time I think in thecuisinart, may have been some
other thing, and the top poppedoff and it just went all... I
had cheese all over the kitchen.
That's probably one of one of mymany.

Allison (43:01):
One of your many.
Alright, how about a memorablehomemaking achievement?

I think my kids my kids are my biggest
accomplishment. Well, not Ican't take full credit. My
husband too because the brainscome from him not from me. But
my our older son owns lead hubowns a it's a computer business
in San Antonio. And then ourdaughter is a surgeon in

(43:32):
Maryland. And then our baby boyis a very successful bartender.
We run the gamut. But they'reall three happily gainfully
employ and not coming home tomommy and daddy for money or
anything else. So, you know,they're just happy, happy,

(43:53):
happy.

Allison (43:54):
Well done. Yes. Well Done.

Yep. My memorable homemaking achievement. Yes. And
that they're close to eachother. Yeah, they call each
other all the time. We dovacations. We probably do at
least two a year where we get anAirbnb. This last one we went to
Port Aransas we've been toArizona a couple times you know

(44:18):
while Emily was going through aresidency but just getting
together having fun puttingjigsaw puzzles together and
laughing with an at each otherYeah, that's a good and I love
that they still love to be witheach other to be with

Allison (44:34):
What do you think it was in your in their growing up
years that kind of cemented thatwhat can you think of anything
in particular?

I don't really know. I think we just as a
family we we did a lot together.
Yeah. And it wasn't like I saidyou couldn't they went off with
other friends at times. A very.
They were very free to go offwith friends but I think we
traveled a lot Together, we madesure family was very much a part

(45:05):
of their upbringing, whether itwas in Kansas with his family or
here, you know, with mine. Theynever my one. My one thing I
regret is that my kids neverknew they never knew the farm.
Never saw the farm. And so, tome, that was the best childhood.

(45:26):
I wish I could have given mykids that same childhood. But
yeah, I think just us beingtogether. I don't know.

Allison (45:37):
And probably the forced family fun too..

Unknown (45:39):
That probably did a lot. Because they laugh about
that. Now they look back on thatand think oh my goodness, it was
fun. It was really fun.

Allison (45:47):
I love that. Okay, so do you have some homemaking tips
to share with us?

Um, I guess that one that Sarah gave me about not
mopping till you stick to thefloor. That's probably the best
advice that I could pass on.
Yeah. And again, I have to goback to it. Don't take anything
too seriously. Yeah, nothing tooseriously. Life itself has
gotten very serious, you know,in our politics today and how we

(46:16):
treat each other sometimes. AndI think we have to this whole
idea of, and I don't want to getpolitical here. But the whole
idea of being offended. Youknow, it's a choice to be
offended. So I think just thewhole idea of loving each other,
and being there for each otherbeing a support, whether in your

(46:38):
home or with friends outside.
Yeah. You know, being a supportfor them.

Allison (46:46):
Good word. We're going to end our time today reflecting
on the art of home. How do yousee homemaking as an art?

Well, making art takes practice lots and lots of
practice. As a beginning artist,you don't. Or maybe he did. I
don't know if Picasso startedout and sold his first painting.
And he may have but I wouldthink it takes lots and lots of
hours of practice. To be apianist it takes a lot of hours

(47:18):
to practice. Homemaking is thesame way. Yeah, so it is an art.
You practice to schedule yourthings you practice to make sure
what comes out of your mouth toyour children is wholesome and
up. Lifting. Yeah, I rememberone of my dear friends, she went
to China as a missionary she andher family. The one the family

(47:41):
we did the forced Family Funwith they became missionaries to
China. And she told me that shenever had to say no to her
children. She tried not to sayno to her children, because when
they asked her if they could dosomething, she had to
rationalize in her brain veryquickly. Is there anything

(48:02):
dangerous about it? If I say,Yes, you know, why would I have
to say no. So no to her wassomething you don't say to kids,
unless it was definitelysomething was going to endanger
their lives? You know. And Ilike that bit of advice, too. I
think that whole idea ofwatching what comes through your

(48:27):
mouth? Yeah. That's an art initself and learning how to do
that.

Allison (48:32):
Definitely.

In fact, I will have to say here that as I
mature, I guess in my parentingskills, if I want to say that I
don't know if I've neverarrived. But as my daughter got
older, she would ask me, Well,what do you think about this?
And I would tell her what to do.
And she would come back at meand say, Mom, I didn't tell ask

(48:55):
you what I should do. I askedyou what you thought. So I
thought about that for a longtime. And so now when she or the
boys ask for advice. I take it Isay, Wow, that's a tough one. I
don't know. I guess if it wereme, I might do it this way. But
you are a different animal. Soyou might you'll come up with

(49:18):
the right decision. Wow. Sothat's the way I've decided to
kind of approach my grownchildren now.

Allison (49:28):
That's good. And you had to learn how to do that.

Yes, yes, I did.

Allison (49:34):
That's great. A lot of what we do as homemakers is
mundane and monotonous. Butthere can be beauty in the
ordinary things. So how do youthink as a homemaker we can find
beauty in the mundane?

I remember a story my mom told me one time that she
hated, hated, hated makingschool lunches for us kids. Of
course, back then you carried abag, you know, and in a paper
bag, but she just and she saidone day she was at the kitchen
window. That was 530 in themorning, she was getting the

(50:14):
bread out, ready to slice it up.
And she just stopped and lookedout the window and said, Lord,
help me to like making theselunches, I just hate...she says
I don't want to make one morelunch. And she said, all of a
sudden, it was like, a peacecame over her. And she went to
the refrigerator, and she lookedfor all creative things to put

(50:36):
in the lunches. And from thatmoment on, it was it was like a
light bulb that went off in herhead, and she said she loved to
make lunches after that. Therewere a challenge to her when she
went grocery shopping orwhatever, it was always looking
for something special to put inthe lunch. Yeah. Um, so I guess

(50:57):
I would say prayer helps.

Allison (51:03):
Her prayer changed her perspective.

Yes, prayer helps in the mundane.

Allison (51:09):
That's a great story.
Thanks for sharing that. How doyou think that homemaking adds
value to society? We know it'svaluable to our individual
homes. But what about tocommunities and society at
large?

Well, as you can see, my homemaking is different
than a lot of other people, but,and my sister and I drive each
other crazy with our differenthome making and parenting
styles. But you know, her homeis immaculate, and she has these
big dinner parties where sheused to and beautiful where the
settings were perfect andeverything and me I throw a loaf

(51:46):
of bread on the table. Andhere's some jelly and there's
some mayonnaise or whatever. Buta cousin of ours one time when
she came to visit fromPennsylvania, and she made the
comment, going to your sister'shouse is like going to a five
star hotel. And coming to yoursis like a house being lived in.

(52:07):
I wasn't sure how to take that.
And I told her, Hey, not surehow I'm going to take that. And
she said, Well, it's like myhouse it's totally lived in. So
it made me feel better. But Ithink the value of homemaking to
society is that when we bringkids up, regardless whether it's

(52:28):
in a five star hotel, or in ahouse that's been lived in,
those kids go out into theworld. And they remember those
lessons that you've taught them.
They remember, you know, thegood times, more than likely,

(52:48):
they remember the good times.
It's like when I wrote my firstbook, and someone said, Your
stories are also happy. Youknow, was there anything bad
that happened? And I think I hadto think about that. And I
thought, I think I choose toremember the good things. Yeah,
I don't choose the bad things todwell on. And I think when we go
out into society, if we can takethe good that our parents have

(53:11):
taught us, then society will bebetter for it. I remember
Shirley Dobbs, I think it wasShirley Dobson, who wrote the
book, they the things my parentsdid, right. She interviewed so
several, eight, eight or 10Different women who came from
abusive parents, either theywere alcoholics or drug addicts.

(53:33):
And these women were, you know,they became, you know, like,
Christian, strong Christianwomen. Yeah. And they had to
dwell on what their parents did,right. So I think if we do that,
we send these kiddos out intosociety. We know we've done the
best that we can, and societywill benefit from that. Yeah,

(53:55):
that's a good word.

Allison (54:00):
What would you say to a young homemaker out there who's
listening? What word ofencouragement or word of advice
would you have for her?

Say, take your time. Enjoy the price process.
And take joy in the littlethings. take joy in having your
little ones hand in your hand.
take joy in that poopy diaper. Itake joy in being able to just
love on your children where theyare. Not where you want them to

(54:34):
be, but where they are rightnow. Because life is tough. Life
is tough and bringing kids up inthis day and age. I can't
imagine doing it now. But beclose. Be close to your children
and just encourage, I want toencourage the moms that are

(55:01):
listening, that they teach theirchildren the life lessons well.
However they teach them in somany different forms. And that's
it.

Allison (55:15):
Well, thank you so much for sharing your story with us.
It's really been a joy to hearit.

Thank you, Allison, it was fun.

Allison (55:22):
I love Judy's perspective on change and
circumstances, that these thingsare all a part of life and we
can choose to embrace and enjoythe process of learning and
growing through it all. Onething's clear in Judy's memoir,
The Road Home, is how much sherespected her parents and
learned from their example ofworking hard and loving well and

(55:43):
really just living life to thefullest. When we touched on the
book about aging, the one thatwas inspired by her mom, Judy
said, she firmly believed thatordinary people can do
extraordinary things, just likeher mother did, simply by
allowing prayer to change herperspective about those school
lunches, to take what could beseen as a burden, like making

(56:04):
the dreaded lunches day afterday after day, or selling and
leaving the farm after herhusband died, or giving up her
car keys and her independence.
And looking at them instead asan opportunity, an adventure, a
chance to grow into the personthat you were created to be.
It's all about perspective,really.
So our homework this week is tothink about our daily tasks in

(56:28):
light of what we can learnthrough them, and how we are
being challenged to stretch andgrow in them. What kind of life
lessons can we learn as wepractice the art of home, the
importance of patience, the ruleof kindness, the value of time,
we could probably make a reallylong list. Maybe you've been
inspired by Judy to write downsome of your life lessons

(56:49):
stories and tell them to yourchildren or your grandchildren.
Whether it's a lesson youlearned decades, hours, or days
ago, it doesn't really matter.
It's worth telling. If thisepisode was helpful to you,
would you pass it on to ahomemaker that you know who
could use some encouragement,just direct them to our website,
they can listen right there onthe website, or they can listen
on any of the major podcastdirectories, whichever they

(57:11):
prefer. It really helps us togrow our audience and get the
stories out there to morehomemakers all over the world.
So thank you. You can connectwith us on all the social
platforms. Links are down belowin the show notes, or you can
send us an email contact@theartfhomepodcast.com. Resou
ces mentioned in this episoe, including where to find Judy
nline and purchase her booksare all listed in the show notes

(57:34):
below and on our website. And dn't forget, like always, you c
n take a little photo tour of Juy's home over on the websi
e. Just click on the link to seson three episode five, a homem
ker portrait of Judy Wattes. Until next time, keep prac
icing your art of making a home

All Episodes

Homemaker Portrait | Judy Watters

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce

The Breakfast Club

Fudd Around And Find Out

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Homemaker Portrait | Judy Watters