The nostalgia of the the 50's is unparalleled. For some reason when the image of a housewife is invoked, it is of the 1950's housewife. With her perfectly rolled hair, classic makeup, immaculate frilly dress (homemade of course, because she had wicked awesome seamstress skills), and coming out of the kitchen with the roast on the platter and a huge content smile on her face as though the only things worth living for were serving her family. And maybe it was.
Today's stay at home mom's (SAHM) while unburdened by a lot of work with the inovations of technology, seem to be more stressed, get less done, and feel more ashamed of their skills as a homemaker. I am one of them. I'm the type of girl who loves to deep clean, get the nooks and crannies, wash baseboards, etc. But with the demands of parenting these days, I'm lucky if I get the laundry folded and dishwasher ran.
I understand as my 12 month old gets older, it will be easier to get things done, but at the moment I have choices to make: Play with my son, or keep the house in order. Take him for a walk or to the park, or organize the fridge. Sing songs with him and pique his interest in books, or being "with" him without actually being present with him because i'm busy doing household chores.
Ok, that last part isn't fair. Sometimes we do have to do all those things, but the demands of parenting today are so overwhelming. I don't have any helicopter mom tendencies, but I do have a little boy whose only wish in the world in to be right next to someone, doing what they are doing. And sometimes that interferes with me getting dinner made or picking the house up, and so I'm just there with him without actually being all there with him.
However, no one really seems to complain about how they were raised by these nostalgia stay at home moms, and we all instinctively know that kids are quite capable of playing on their own without us "engaging" (being up their a$$) constantly.
I came across this blog post a few days from The Stepford Sisters ago that had the author outlining the typical day of the 1950's housewife, and was going to follow it for a week. I think I am going to follow in her example to see what exactly the difference in mind set/productivity is, and how we can incorporate some of yesterday's standards into today's complete parenting mentality, or if it now a lost art. Call this an amateur Anthropology study, if you will :)
So starting this Monday, I will be attempting to be the quintessential little housewife.....we'll see how this plays out.
However, no one really seems to complain about how they were raised by these nostalgia stay at home moms, and we all instinctively know that kids are quite capable of playing on their own without us "engaging" (being up their a$$) constantly.
I came across this blog post a few days from The Stepford Sisters ago that had the author outlining the typical day of the 1950's housewife, and was going to follow it for a week. I think I am going to follow in her example to see what exactly the difference in mind set/productivity is, and how we can incorporate some of yesterday's standards into today's complete parenting mentality, or if it now a lost art. Call this an amateur Anthropology study, if you will :)
So starting this Monday, I will be attempting to be the quintessential little housewife.....we'll see how this plays out.
No comments:
Post a Comment