Hey there Domestic Darling! I had the AWESOME opportunity to go on Good Morning Hamilton with Rick Zamperin on 900 CHML radio this week! You can give it a listen above (it’ll only take a few minutes) but I also have a summary and transcript for you, if you prefer to read!
Summary
Rick Zamperin and I discuss the challenges of balancing traditional gender roles with modern expectations. I share my personal experience as a mom and host of the Domestic Daydreams Podcast, while Rick probes the controversy surrounding the Trad Wife movement. I emphasize the importance of finding inspiration and grace for oneself, setting priorities, and taking small steps towards improvement to navigate the Homemaking lifestyle, and why being a homemaker isn’t exclusive to Stay-at-Home Moms.
Transcript
Rick Zamperin
This is Good morning, Hamilton, on 900 CHL Rick with you. Thank you so much for being here with me this morning. And this is a really interesting topic, and it is an interesting trend called the Trad wife, or the traditional wife, where women are going back to how I guess households were run in the old days. But like most things these days, the movement has stirred up a little bit of controversy. Cheyenne Lynnae is a mom and host of the Domestic Daydreams podcast. You can check it out online at domesticdaydreams.com and Cheyenne joins us now. Cheyenne, good morning. How are you?
Cheyenne Bulloch
I’m doing great. How are you doing?
On my Homemaking Journey
Rick Zamperin
I’m fantastic. So I read your personal story at domesticdaydreams.com and, you know, it struck a chord with me and probably many others, because I think many people can relate to how you felt at one point. You know, new mom overwhelmed by trying to keep up with all, you know, the chores around the house, all the stuff that needs to get done. And so you have looked back in time to propel yourself forward. Tell us what you did?
Cheyenne Bulloch
So I am a mom with ADHD, so I have all the struggles trying to keep everything together, especially when I was working and commuting. And so I needed to find something that would rescue my home quickly and actually work for my brain type. And I found that a lot of the homemaking and cleaning routines out there were made for like the type a girlies, which are amazing, but that’s just not me. So I decided to take a look back in time and see what routines and resources that people were using, especially in the 50s, when there’s a lot of those societal pressures to keep a pristine home, and see what I could learn from them.
Who Inspires Me as a Homemaker
Rick Zamperin
So what research did you do and did anyone inspire you to do this?
Cheyenne Bulloch
I scoured all of the thrift stores I could find, Ebay. I looked back through old film, anything that I could find that would give me clues as to how things were run. I mean, obviously there were college programs at the time, there were so many resources for women to help them be able to not just keep up at home, but really excel and succeed. And so that’s where I really took a look, of course, as well as looking at all of the amazing online homemakers that give tips and resources nowadays. But one of the inspirations for me was really Donna Reed on the Donna Reed Show, she she was a great mix of both a Power Girl as well as that kind of home making vibe she had on her show. And so I was like, “oh, I want a little bit of that energy in my life.”
How my Family Feels about Homemaking
Rick Zamperin
I’m sure baby is cool with this. What did your spouse think about it?
Cheyenne Bulloch
So he met me after I’d already started this. So I really believe that whether you’re single, married, a career, girly, or you stay at home, whether you are traditional, non traditional, that everyone’s a homemaker at heart. Because if you I believe homemakers are basically keeper of the vibes and orchestrators of good memories. So I was really passionate about this before I even had a family, and I was just trying to keep up a home on my own or for my extended family that lived with me. And so he was on board. It’s funny, because he had always actually imagined himself with a career girl, because his mom was that’s kind of how his whole family was, and I grew up in a very traditional household, but when we got together, he was genuinely inspired by how passionate I was about creating like a home, especially a home for us once we got married, and he honestly didn’t want me to have to worry about all of the stress of being a business girl. I mean, even though, I guess I kind of am.
On the Controversy of being a Homemaker
Rick Zamperin
You certainly are. And you’re also a new mom. And the host of the Domestic Daydreams podcast, you can get a lot more information on the website, domesticdaydreams.com or subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your favorite podcast. We’re in discussion with Cheyenne Lynnae, who is undertaking this kind of Trad wife trend, and has been doing it for a while. Did you ever think to yourself, or try to make yourself think at one point, listen, I’m a woman. It’s 2024 I should be progressive, live in the 21st century, as opposed to looking back to home making from the 50s.
Cheyenne Bulloch
Yes, absolutely. I feel like every Well, I don’t just feel like it’s been proven, as I’ve talked to my
audience, of like 100,000 strong homemaking passionate girls on Instagram, that every
homemaker, or more traditional girl who fesses up to wanting to have a home and a family
when they grew up has experience being being ridiculed by another woman. And I think that
can go both ways, just like many career women have, who are moms, have been put down or
felt ridiculed for working or having their children in child care or whatever it may be. You know,
feminism now is having the freedom to choose our lifestyle, which is amazing, and so many
women thought so hard for that, but I found a lot a lot of the largest critics of each other’s
choices are other women, and so that’s really unfortunate, but I think that’s why a lot of
homemakers are taking to Instagram and online to connect with other women that are
passionate about it and share that this is okay and it’s okay to want this.
Homemaking Hacks from the 1950s
Rick Zamperin
Absolutely and it sounds like it’s working for you, and I think that is the secret to a successful marriage, motherhood, family. Dichotomy is, if it’s working, you know, if it’s not broken, don’t break it. That’s one of these, one of the mottos that I subscribe to, what what time saving or homemaking skills from the 50s that you have brought back that are really working? And maybe it surprised you a little, because you didn’t think, I don’t know if this is going to work, but it’s a it’s a home run in terms of home making skills,
Cheyenne Bulloch
I’ve found that they genuinely had systems for everything. They systemized their life so things could be run on autopilot, and they were almost already brain hacking themselves, like radio stories and 1950s radio shows were very, very popular during that time period, they’d turn on a radio show and they would follow their routines and systems that they put in place so that they could keep the house on autopilot while also not losing their mind, as I call it. And so creating systems in your life for laundry or for dishes, just having routines and good habits can be absolutely life changing, and that’s what they really, really focused on for us. I took that habit they had for systemizing everything, and I turned it into a guided 1950s radio cleaning routine that people can press play and it’s timed out. We’re gonna spend five minutes on making or airing the beds and putting in a load of laundry, and then listen to the radio story. Five minutes later, I chime in with the next task. And basically those tasks are from 1950s routines.
Rick Zamperin
pretty cool. If there is a new mom or an old mom who’s listening to this right now and thinking,
well, this CRad wife movement sounds kind of cool. Kind of cool. Where should they start? What
are some of the things that they could do to get them off the launch pad?
Cheyenne Bulloch
So I would say there the two things are one to you know, find inspiration, find something that
resonates with you, whether it’s someone online that you connect with on my website, I even
share all of my favorite other cleaning routines that aren’t my own, because my goal is to help
women find the routines and the systems that work for them, not to sell them on my routine.
The second thing is to have grace for yourself, to aim for just 1% improvement in your home
every day, because 1% improvement, compounded over time can become 100% improvement
and to just pick one thing every day that’s your priority, or talk to your spouse and ask them
what the one thing that makes the biggest difference for them in their lives, as far as having
the home is depending on what your goal, you know is, whether it’s for your own mental health
or for your Families, pick one thing and just do that every day, and then you can add on
something else, but just having that one most important thing when you go to bed at night you
can feel successful, is so much better than trying to be perfect right away at your home making
that’s
Rick Zamperin
a great advice and awesome recommendations, and you can get more of that by subscribing
To the domestic daydreams podcast or checking it out online. Domestic daydreams.com
Cheyenne, thanks for the time today. Best of luck with this going forward.
Cheyenne Bulloch
Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.