Owning it . . . I AM A HOUSEWIFE.
June 17, 2013
Posted By: Shaunescy
It really is ridiculous. I wake up in the morning, Brush my teeth, get breakfast out for the family and make beds on my way back to get myself dressed. I am a machine of efficiency.
Or am I a slave to it??? I don't know.
I am a devotee of order. We believe that by using a modified Ferber method for sleep training, our parental sanity was saved. The kids know what to expect on almost a clockwork basis and it saves me many arguments.
Although, crap. . . those first 3 nights broke my heart and I had to take a walk around the block, chastising myself the whole time for needing sleep.
And my friends will tell you that my house is clean, albeit not clean enough for my taste. Yes, we get juice spills and crumbs, but I can sit on my couch in the evening without having to remove piles of stuff.
I don't bother to start a load of laundry unless I know I can get it all done and put away. (I do two loads every day, sigh.)
But I don't live in a complete bubble. Yes, my bubble is tidy and proportionally satisfying to me but it does have the elasticity to take into account for wind and obstacles. ??And as I sit here writing I realize that we all have our ways. I worry that I am being alienating by talking about all my uptight weirdness. I know it's twitchy.
I once had a friend ask me if I got hives when I visited her joyfully chaotic home.
Not one bit. Her place is great and her kids are happy too. (I will however, admit to surreptitiously vacuuming once, while she was laid up with a broken ankle. I felt useful.)
What I am telling you is that although I have not been able to lie on my back for 7 years without the threat of a small person's pounce, I do get a measure of peace. Because, on the whole, I know the parameters of chaos that my day will bring. . . and the ones I don't will build my character.
So the other day when I met a young visitor from Japan who was tagging along at a kid's birthday party we were attending and in the 'getting to know you' convo asked me, in the guileless way unique to non-native speakers, "Are you a housewife?" It felt like a sucker-punch.
I said yes, and immediately, desperately started filling in details. Hmnn, yes. . . But I write! I paint some, too! I have traveled!
And now upon reflection I think I am going to take a cue from the GLBT activists and I am going own that term and flip the script. I'm gonna make t-shirts.
I am a housewife.
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All my best, BunnyFufu ~ the housewife.
