one of my friends (who shall remain nameless) just told me that her husband told her that housewives don't work. excuse me?! let me start off by citing this excerpt i just read online by an author named Betty Freidan:
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Can the problem that has no name be somehow related to the domesroutine of the housewife? When a woman tries to put the problem into words, she often merely describes the daily life she leads. What is there in this recital of comfortable domestic detail that could possibly cause such a feeling of desperation? Is she trapped simply by the enormous demands of her role as modern housewife: wife, mistress, mother, nurse, consumer, cook, chauffeur, expert on interior decoration, child care, appliance repair, furniture refinishing, nutrition, referee, chaperone, and education? Her day is fragmented as she rushes from dishwasher to washing machine to telephone to dryer to station wagon to supermarket, and delivers Johnny to the Little League field, takes Janey to dancing class, gets the lawnmower fixed and meets the 6:45. She can never spend more than 15 minutes on any one thing; she has no time to read books, only magazines; even if she had time, she has lost the power to concentrate. At the end of the day, she is so terribly tired that sometimes her husband has to take over and put the children to bed
seems to me that this puts it very well. if it weren't for us women, some of the men out there wouldn't know what to do with themselves. hell, lonnie has a hard time cooking kraft macaroni and cheese! the man could scorch water, i swear! let's face it: every good man needs a good woman!
matter of fact, lonnie was deployed to haiti for nearly two months starting back in january. five days before he came home, my daughter jessica got really sick. i sat with her in the emergency room waiting area for TEN HOURS. she was listless, throwing up all over me every few minutes, and both of us were exhausted. two days after that, she was better but i was the one that was sick. so sick, in fact, that i had to butt-scoot down the stairs with her because i was too weak to stand up, let alone carry my daughter. how does this not sould like work??? of course it's worth it...but it's still the hardest thing i've ever done.
we don't get holidays. we don't get sick days. we don't get vacation time. we're on call 24/7 (oftentimes, going without sleep for long stretches at a time. we do the ULTIMATE job.
however, all that is about to change! i'll be moving back to michigan as soon as needed paperwork gets signed. i'll be doing the whole "single, working mom" thing again. this isn't necessarily a bad thing; i desperately need a change of pace! to all the SAHMs out there...GREAT JOB!!!
GOD BLESS THE AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE!!!!!!!!!
