Housecleaning vs. Housekeeping vs. Homemaking

Is there a difference? I believe there is. Lets take a look...
Lets start with housecleaning. Well that is fairly self explanatory. Housecleaning is, well, cleaning house. Doing what needs to be done to make the house clean. If you are a mom it means picking up toys and clothes. Picking up the items that are on the floor that don't belong on the floor. Vacuuming or sweeping said floor and making sure it is clean, so washing the floor or carpet when needed. It means taking care of dirty dishes lying about. Making your living space clean. Most people do this daily. There are some who don't and they either don't have kids, pets, or spouses, or they live in a dirty house. But housecleaning is something that generally everyone needs to do on a daily basis.
Now lets look at housekeeping. House - keeping.... keeping house. What does that mean exactly. Well, part of it is the daily house cleaning, because if you are going to keep house, it needs to be kept clean. I also think that part of housekeeping is making it a comfortable living space. So that means going a little beyond the keeping it clean spectrum. Things like adding decor, a flower arrangement, an art piece, a decorative rug or throw pillows. So now we not only have a clean house, it is comfortable and clean. I think it also means making sure that there is toilet paper in the bathroom, light bulbs at the ready should one burn out... essentials like that. Things that you would not expect your hired housecleaner to take care of.
Now how about Homemaking. Making a home. That sounds so much nicer. This in my humble opinion is everything that is described above...the cleaning and the keeping... but then adding the special touches that make it home. What makes a house a home? Well, I think that would vary person to person. For me, its the pictures of my children on the wall, its their artwork on the refrigerator, its my favorite coffee on the shelf, the favorite cereal in the cabinet. The home made craft items made for me by my sister for a Christmas gift hanging on the wall. It means coats for all six of my family members hanging together in the entryway. This is home. It means there is sometimes an occassional doll or truck left on the floor. There is a coffee cup that my dear husband last drank out of in the sink. There are many times little fingerprints on the mirror. It means that a lot of time it isn't possible to have a clean house, but rather a picked up home. Because if there are children present, it becomes cluttered. And they are only children once. My great aunt once gave me a plaque for the wall that read "Cleaning the house while the children are growing is like shoveling snow while it's still snowing". I truly believe this, and my kids prove it to me daily. We try and stay ahead of the clutter, but I don't think we are ever done cleaning.