The Common Housewife

A well-intentioned missionary asked during a recent goodwill visit: "So, Sister Jex, do you work?"

"I'm not working right now," I replied coolly, mentally shifting him over to the Dark Side.

"Soooo...." he foolishly continued, "what do you do during the day, then?"

Choose the best response:

a) "Why, I'm a lady of leisure, don't you know? I follow every fancy."

b) "Oh I keep busy now that I've got the DVR up and running--and let me tell you, it is hard work plowing through 100 hours of TV. Want some bon-bons?"

c) "I will graciously disregard that last question, in view of your youth. But Sugar, I must forewarn you never to ask your future wife what she does all day when she's sitting in a pile of children as you see me this evening."

Mind you, my grandmother raised 2 kids...10 years apart in the 50's. I can guarantee you, she never got the "do you work/what do you do all day" treatment, even if she did have free time. She did what women did. Now, the balance is off--it's not enough to be a mother raising babies anymore. I love that we have more options than the 50's mom, but in some ways, I think motherhood might have been embraced and respected a bit more then.

Here's a favorite quote from the movie, Mona Lisa from a student who chose to get married and focus on family over her career to her teacher: "You stand in class and tell us to look beyond the image, but you don't. To you a housewife is someone who sold her soul for a center hall Colonial. She has no depth, no intellect, no interests. You're the one who said I could do anything I wanted. This is what I want."

Hopefully one of these days we'll get it right.

Trevor's Day on Pleasure Island

Trevor had a big day. We went with some friends to the mall for a clown show. There was juggling, there was unicycling, there were balloon animals. We ate lunch out, the kids were noisy and had a great time. And he finagled a playdate once we got back. He played from 1:30 until 7 p.m. And when Mother came a knockin', a sinister look crossed his face.

"No! I don't want to go to our house! I can sleepover! I can sleepover!" The gauntlet was down. He had a nerf gun in his hand. He meant business. He was surrounded by boys. Boys entering and exiting at their leisure, a constant flow of neighborhood friends. With guns. And Star Wars action figures. In a house with a new puppy. And big chocolate cookies. There was no way I or anyone else could convince him to leave all these pleasures behind. I gave him the 5-minute warning.

Five minutes later, he was braying, "I'm NOT going home! I HATE our home! I can take this gun home with me. " Mom channeled her SWAT team tactics and manhandled him into his carseat. There was kicking. Screaming. Threats. And a very final, "Don't TOUCH me!" upon arrival to our boring abode. "I don't want anyone touching me!"

In the end, the spectacle dissolved into apologies, hugs, and kisses. What a transformation. But if boys will be boys, we're headed for trouble...

Congrats To Aedan

Aedan received her Faith In God Award on Sunday. Jamon made her a giant cookie to celebrate. She is counting down how many more Sundays till she's in YW...only 4 more!

PS: Kristy...it'll fetch a higher price, you can be sure. wink wink.

All In A Week's Work...

Recently, I visited The Material Girls quilt shop on a trip to Utah. They had a wall quilt with the vintage "Jobs for Each Day of the Week" stitched in: Monday is Wash Day, Tuesday is Ironing Day, Wednesday is Sewing Day, etc. I went home thinking it was a great idea to modernize. One major housekeeping focus a day. If it worked 80 years ago, it should work today, right?

So Saturday, I wanted to wash the car. Didn't get to it. I'm really good about Sunday Rest Day, which meant that Monday became wash the car day. Instead, it went like this:

Monday: Wash the insides of car windows because the fingerprints, mouth marks, and foggy streaks from the last wash job make me feel slovenly. It's the bare minimum to boost spirits.

Tuesday: Vacuum the car. It has needed it for months. Bum vacuum does mediocre job.

Wednesday: Wash the layer of sea breeze scum from all surfaces of car interior.

Thursday: Wash exterior of car, good thing I had to get gas.

Friday: Re-vacuum car because really need to shampoo rugs.

Saturday: Shampoo rugs.

Sunday: Drive impeccable-looking car to Sabbath worship.


My foremothers would shun me. Sadly...the interior windows need attention again...wonder how long it will take this time.

The First Days of School

Summer was a short 7 weeks here in Hawaii. The kids are all starting at new schools this year. Here are the kids' take on their first impressions of the new school year:

TREVOR: Kailua Baptist Preschool

Kissing Goodbye

"I talked to my teachers!" was Trevor's report, which means he must love it there, or he'd be sullen and cautious, taking his time to warm up.

JAMON: Aikahi Elementary School--5th Grade

"Everyone in the class is going to have a job. We can apply for 2 jobs and we have to have references. I am applying to be the Banker or the Oops Manager. They both make $950. We have to pay rent for our desks, and if we want to buy someone else's desk, they have to pay us the rent."

AEDAN: Kailua Intermediate School--7th Grade

DR. Hughes....Oh My Gosh. He is the most INSANE teacher I have EVER met. He's like 65 or so and he's the math teacher...here's a couple quotes for you: (yes, he said all of these things)1:"WHAT is three? Yes I know that you are like 'well three is three' but the more you think about it, when you're walking home from school a lightning bolt will zap you and you'll be like 'Oh My Gosh. What is three?? OH MY GOSH, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THREE IS!!' and then you'll start thinking about all the numbers and so on."

As for Mother Hen, I love how different each school is in their expectations for the child:

Preschool Teacher: "Please be sure to bring in a photo of your family, it really helps the child to see their family is right there with us in the room."

Elementary Counselor: "We have a support group for children whose parents are deployed, and we'll also have a special lunch for all the new kids to our school this year."

Intermediate Principal: "What is going on here? I've never seen so many parents on the first day of school! This is NOT Kindergarten. These kids need to figure this out for themselves."

More Than I Bargained For

So I asked Aedan to take a picture of me to replace my blurry picture-of-a-picture on my Facebook account. "Just a headshot." She waxed creative and was directing me on how to pose this way and that just like Napoleon's friend, Deb. When all was said and done, I was surprised by how many great angles she came up with, so although I feel a little self-conscious putting all these photos of myself up, it's mostly to brag about her skills. Bow-hunting skills, nunchuck skills, photography skills...