Where We are Today is Not Living in the Past

As a stay at home mom, I have looked around and thought, "What the heck am I doing here. I am not good enough for this. I will never be what I need to be. I will never be able to do what needs to be done."  These types of thoughts are unproductive and only serve to make things worse,  but they are there and often sends me looking for that magical book, list, website, home notebook, box of index cards, or just sends me to the sofa with a bag of chips, a bowl of ice cream and a diet soda.  Does that make me lazy?  Does that bring to light the possiblity that I lack self discipline?  Does this make me a failure at my job?

Seriously?

The Magical Be A Success at Life Mommy Book
I think it makes me human, real, and driven.  I am driven to find better ways to run my household. I am driven to try harder to be a great mom, awesome wife, and good home manager.  I am also driven to find some kind of affirmation that I am a worthwhile human being when I get into one of those "mommy funks."  I just recently read a blog post about not idolizing the pioneer.  It was a great, eye opening article and can be found here.  We do expect a lot our of ourselves and frequently use our idea of what the pioneer woman was or the Proverb's 31 woman as our model. 

"After I get these back to cozy log cabin I built, I will slaughter the deer, smoke the meat and whip a new bonnet."
The idea that those standards would work in our modern world is just silly.  The pioneer typically lived in a one room house, had few clothes, and had a much simpler way of life.  When it was dark, there was no light and everyone quit working, because they could not see. Their days were shorter in that regard.  They also generally did not work on much of anything on Sundays, using that day as a full day of rest.  While Proverbs 31 woman certainly has really good character traits and we should desire to emulate the Biblical qualities she has, she also lived in a very different world.  She sold at shops, bought land, and planted things.  She also had servants, a different set of real estate laws, and did not have to worry much about sales tax, merchant accounts, and Quickbooks.

If evolution were true, this is what I would look like....

Todays modern conveniences, like running water and electricity, have enabled us to have longer and more productive days.  We have to know that people in the way back when, got to turn it off at 6 pm in the winter, and everyone went to bed early because candles and oil were expensive.  They got more rest.  So, if I as a mom, have a longer day of schooling my kids, taking care of them, making meals, have a bigger home with more clothes, dishes, and indoor toilets to clean; I am going to be tired.  Our bodies and our minds will give out on us on occasion.  My most tired times come when my body is preparing for that uhm "special" time of the month that most women get the uhmmm pleasure of experiencing.  I believe this is hormonal for me and other than getting more rest and making sure I am at least trying to get some nutritious food in my body, there is not going to be much else that can fix it.  Call me lazy if you want to, but please avoid the hours of 1 pm and 2 pm.... I will be napping.

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4 comments:

Katie said...

Too funny!!!

Nitecruzr said...

Here's a test comment.

See:

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/thread?tid=70eee3c2525844ff&hl=en

Thosetwogirls said...

You ruined all my romantic notions about being a prarie lady.

Seriously, I love my dishwasher and central air way too much to give them up. I also wonder sometimes if giving up those things, is really good stewardship of our time KWIM? God blessed us with all of these wonderful ways to allow us to serve our families more efficiently. Why would I give that up if I dont have to?

Jessica said...

Thanks Katie & Anna :) I am glad you liked the post. Anna - sorry to ruin your romantic notions, but now you have less to be disappointed about.

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