Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Live Vol. 3 - Housekeeping

Summa Domestica #3

by Leila Marie Lawler

Most wives possess a deep, existential intuition that they bear primary responsibility for creating the home environment, in cooperation with their husbands, who protect and provide for it. When Leila Lawler started out as a young wife and then became a mother, she had no idea how to keep a house, manage laundry, or plan and prepare meals, let alone entertain and inspire toddlers and select a curriculum to pass on the Faith. She spent decades excavating deeply rooted cultural memories that had been buried under an avalanche of feminist ideology. Lawler developed and meticulously presented these on her popular website, Like Mother, Like Daughter, and has now collected them in this comprehensive, three-volume set to help women who desire a proficient and systematic approach to home life. The Summa Domestica comprises three Family Life , which delves into the essentials of establishing the home; Education , which explores the basics of teaching children and preparing them to learn on their own; and Housekeeping , which presents detailed instructions on taking care of the house, meals, and laundry in an active and populous household. All at once lively, funny, calming, and complete, The Summa Domestica an indispensable how-to book on making and keeping a home that will serve your family best.

Genres: Nonfiction, Parenting, Christian, Catholic

418 pages, Hardcover

Published December 20, 2021

About the author

I am wife of one, mother of seven, and grandmother of a growing number of little ones, living in Central Massachusetts.

I encountered Christianity as a high school student (but really from my earliest memories through fairy tales and The Chronicles of Narnia) and entered the Catholic Church in 1979, the year I was married to Philip Lawler, noted Catholic journalist, author of The Faithful Departed.

My own journey of learning the faith has given me an appreciation for the difficulties and excitement today's family faces in living its Christian calling. I try to encourage all kinds of audiences, online and in person, to commit to the renewal of family life.

I practice "kitchen sink philosophy" at Like Mother, Like Daughter, a website for practical and theoretical insight into in all aspects of daily life. I write on everything from cooking and knitting to education and recovering what I and my daughters call "the collective memory" -- things we like to share about our creative life and also things we don't want to forget that were passed down from family to family in a more generous era.

I am co-author with David Clayton of The Little Oratory: A Beginner's Guide to Praying in the Home and author of God Has No Grandchildren: A Guided Reading of Pius XI's encyclical Casti Connubii, On Chaste Marriage.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Potentially the most useful of the 3 volumes, depending how one looks at usefulness. It is lighter on theory than the other books and may be more appealing to people who are less in sync with some of Auntie Leila’s other ideas, but it is still in keeping with all that she is. This volume encompasses those things I anticipated would be most useful to me to have in book form, though in the end, I’m glad to have all 3 volumes because I know I will reference them. Surprisingly, however, she left out and details about nursery foods, which is a list I’ve kept in my own food binder since she mentioned it on her blog. Still, this book is a gem and would make a wonderful gift to a new mom, or even a clueless homemaker one (which describes me right up until I discovered LMLD) six-ish years ago.

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this volume first, and it was Providential since I soon found myself gearing up to move across country. Same tone/content as Auntie Leila’s blog, but immensely more helpful as a cheerful reference on the shelf in the home you are tending.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

By far the most useful and encouraging book I've read on housekeeping so far. I appreciate her non-threatening feeling tone, the reasonable but not perfect standard, how she's very open about still being an imperfect housekeeper, and especially how detailed and specific her methods are. Leila Marie Lawler's kindness and gentleness kept me from feeling overwhelmed or guilty while reading, but also inspired to actually try out her methods.

I will give a heads up to my friends who are also not Roman Catholic that I disagreed with much of her theology that she discussed in the book, but I found it very interesting to read and it had wise applications, even if I disagreed with her reasoning. She also leaned in the direction of all women should stay home and have as many children as the Lord gives them.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume of the Summa Domestica is devoted to housekeeping. Leila covers meal planning and laundry first — each in great detail — as she ranks these two as the highest priorities. One can focus better on other things if everyone in the house is first fed and clothed. And of the two, being fed is most important in terms of survival. So she says these two things must be gotten under control first and foremost. Then she moves on to cleaning, organizing, decorating, etc.

I am a naturally organized person and cleaning is just about the only skill I possess. I actually like to clean and organize and declutter, and so I do it and I do it well. Almost everything in this volume are things I already do, and so I can say from personal experience that the advice is spot on and will work wonders if it is applied! :)

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book on housekeeping with a ton of useful tips, especially for younger women just starting out and daunted by all that goes into keeping a house clean, inviting, and organized. I found the meal prep section to be the most useful, while other sections weren’t as useful since I already have systems in place for cleaning, laundry, and finances that are different that hers, but work for our family (though it was still good to hear how someone else tackles these areas). Part of a three-volume series… I am sure I’ll read the other two soon. It’s a big book, but with her approachable and humorous tone, it wasn’t intimidating.

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply marvelous. Highly, highly recommend the entire Summa Domestica set.

[Elise Temme · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel rather bittersweet that this is the third and final book in the Summa Domestica series. This is a simply lovely treasury of wisdom regarding family living, homeschooling, and keeping house. This third volume revolved mainly around the topic of homemaking. Leila Lawler offers lots of helpful advice on meal planning, cleaning, doing laundry, and organizing information. I enjoyed this volume almost as much as the first one and highly recommend to any stay-at-home mother. I will be referring to this book often!

[Abby Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is quite possibly the best book on the practical aspects of keeping a home that I have read so far. It is everything I have looked for on this topic, and it left my heart singing. She covers the three basics: cooking, laundry, and cleaning. Lots of solid, flexible advice on these three subjects, liberally flavored with hope and humor and reality!
I love that she never leaves you with "do the laundry!" but educates you on the whys and wherefores, explains her system, and let's you see this can be done from the perspective of a mother of a large homeschooling family. There's none of this silly 'when you get home from work to a house no one has been in with your one child type system'. (I understand it's a bit ironic of me to say that since I'm a childless homemaker, but I too get fed up with unrealistic systems because I can't share them with my friends, manage them myself, nor were they my experience growing up in a large, homeschooling family.)
She also goes into living frugally and how to organize your to-do list, which is wonderful and real! (Debt isn't the end of the world. Saving up for college for all your kids is unrealistic. I'm so thankful she said that!)
She also again and again and again reminds all of us homemakers of how important our work is and us in our work. This was just an absolute blessing to read. And, I'm sure, in a few years, I'll read it again! What a blessing this woman is!

Warning: This dear sister is a Roman Catholic. She talks about Guardian angels and prayer and different things in a way I believe is wrong, but it is not heavy handed, and fairly easy to read with discernment.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leila Lawler has become my reliable go-to for sensible advice on the practicalities of running a Christian household. While the first two volumes are foundational, this one gets me putting plans into action, rolling up my sleeves and digging into the real mess of everyday life running a busy house.

I've found her ideas on meal planning, cleaning, and laundry, among others, to be doable and helpful. Although I'd read through most of this material on her blog, I'm so happy to have it indexed and on paper for easy reference.

[Vasilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book very slowly during a 3 month period of baby being sick, or husband being sick, or me being sick. Didn’t have the energy to implement much advice but found this book so helpful. The bit at the end about cooking during sickness is so overwhelming right now but I need to read it again slowly and without panicking and I’m sure it will be ok!

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author is incredibly wordy. It would take a story or two for her to get to the point of a chapter. I found myself skimming whole pages to find the nuts and bolts of cleaning and laundry care. I was hoping for something a little more procedural in nature. I would look elsewhere for a reference book about housekeeping.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the second volume the best. While I don’t consider myself a stellar housekeeper, I think I’m a bit beyond the level that Mrs. Lawler is writing for in most cases. I can, however, easily see how useful this would be for those who didn’t have a model of those skills from their own childhood.

[Jenna Hetmansperger · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's bittersweet for me to finish this book. I began this year with the goal of finishing the three Summa Domestica volumes at a leisurely pace so I could really absorb the information, and I had no idea how much I would love them and refer back to them. "Auntie Leila" has taught me so much and I will be forever indebted to her.

[Ruth D · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author is very wordy, so threads can be hard to follow. If you're looking for specific and comprehensive how-tos, this isn't the book for you. However, the author's down-to-earth wisdom is comforting in an otherwise crazy world that pushes perfection and unrealistic standards. Like most "blogs turned books," this reads like a compilation of blogs rather than a complete body of work.

[Meg Pilcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series will never not slap

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very practical advice for housekeeping. She definitely builds on some of the ideas from Volume One, but this book can stand alone as well.

[Caitlin Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have loved all the volumes of the Summa Domestica. Highly recommend. The third volume is full of practical help for mothers.