1 Mother 2 Another

The past couple of weeks have been crazy
for me, doing the mommy thing all day and rehearsing a show late at
night. Cora’s had to go to her share of rehearsals, but
mostly the show hasn’t had a direct impact on family time.


Indirectly, though, is another story.


With every minute of nap times taken up with learning lines and
trying to stay afloat, my days have become infinitely less
productive. And with my oil burning far past midnight, my days have
become infinitely more cranky and less patient. So I’ve spent
the last two weeks coasting on the household front – four
loads of laundry FINALLY done, but sitting for over a week in my
bedroom waiting to be folded and put away. Brian uncomplainingly
went to the pile every morning and plucked a fresh pair of socks,
while I tried desperately to find a shirt that wasn’t too
wrinkled. Our supply of frozen meals I’d stocked up has
dwindled to nil, and don’t get me started on the state of the
house: books everywhere, Barbie shoes strewn all over the floor,
table surfaces buried under papers and detritus.


It is not, of course, the end of the world when your house becomes
snowed under. I work hard on my household partly so that I can
coast when necessary. But by the end of this weekend I
couldn’t stand it any more, which is why I was so grateful
for Sunday – my first day off in weeks.

I made a grocery list. I shopped. I
planned meals for the week. I did the girls’ laundry –
AND PUT IT AWAY. (Ok, put MOST of it away.) I organized
Maddie’s school folders, planned her lunches, and began
tackling the swamp that is my house.


And you know what? It made me very happy.


I actually find extreme satisfaction at creating a cozy, orderly
household. Is that crazy? And lest you misunderstand, I’m not
saying I enjoy MAINTAINING an orderly household. I would happily
hire a cleaning lady and a professional laundress – I
don’t get a kick out of scrubbing toilets and doing a load of
whites AGAIN. But I do find happiness in prepping dinner during
Cora’s quiet time so that she and I can read books together
when she’s awake; or in packing Maddie’s lunch the
night before so I can spend the morning focusing on the girls and
not splitting my attention.


I suppose this makes me anachronistic, or even against modern
feminism. I’m not saying I think women should be chained to
the house, or stick to “female” roles. I’m just
saying that nurturing my family in this very basic way brings me
joy. Last week we had a day of nasty weather – cold, wet rain
with lots of wind. And a friend of mine said that she spent the day
organizing her daughter’s closet, cleaning out the fridge and
such; and before she left for school pick-up she cleaned up the
living room, warmed up the house, and put low lights on all over,
so that coming home would be warm and cozy and inviting. And I know
exactly what she means, and how it fulfilled her.


So I spent my Sunday puttering and organizing and catching up. And
I am happy.