Kristin Souza: Home Is Where The Heart Is

Kristin Souza loves being a homemaker. It's always been how she wanted to conduct her adult life.

"I like the order and structure that comes with keeping a well-run house. Even as a little girl I liked to keep lists- grocery lists, chores lists. There's something so satisfying about checking it all off."

Even as a small child, Souza knew she wanted to stay at home to raise her children and to create a perfect home environment for herself and her family.

"Let's just say I never outgrew playing house, " she jokes. "Of course now there are those inconveniences like bills and keeping up on doctor's appointments and sports practices, but from a very early age I was getting ready for the work of keeping a nice home."

A third-generation resident of Woonsocket, she had plenty of practice watching both her mother and her grandmother maintain their houses on a shoe-string budget.

"I grew up in a large, fluid family. Cousins coming in and out, that sort of thing. No one had any money. So, I learned how to take care of things, to take pride in what we did have and to maintain it. You take care of the stuff you have, you don't need more stuff, right?"

Souza is well-aware that she is not the most progressive thinker in this area.

"Good thing Woonsocket is more traditional than so many other cities. It's still got that homey feeling. Families get together for Sunday supper, you know, that kinda stuff. It's not this major requirement to go out and get a career."

Souza believes that working at keeping a nice home, especially on a limited budget, is both as demanding and as rewarding as many other professions.

"It's not easy keeping a rotating menu on the dinner table, cooking from scratch, keeping everyone's clothing ironed and clean. It's a matter of taking pride in what you do-whatever that may be," she explains.

She particularly laments the fact that many people no longer take the time to do chores properly and that they prioritize the use of technology above almost all else.

"I have never owned a microwave," she says proudly.

She is a very prolific and creative baker, and recently (and successfully) created her first rainbow cake.

"My kids are grown up now, so I have more time. I think of what I bake as a way to express my artistic side, and also a way to make people happy," she says.

She has an ulterior motive as well.

"Because my kids are grown, the best way I know to get them to come visit is to feed them," she laughs. "You create a nice environment for them to come visit, and sure enough, they'll come."