Keeping up with your Inner Jones
In FB conversation with Larisa, the topic of doing it all came up. She quoted, quite rightly, the culture of "keeping up with the Joneses" as inflicting just as much hurt as beauty magazines do to a girl's self image.
Maybe what's more worthwhile is declaring what we've already done and what we gave up for those things. A recent post by a celebrity blogger essentially admitted that she had to ignore (as in IGNORE, not just put on hold) her husband and kids to keep up on appearances. Which seems to cancel out the accomplishments. Which is more important?
As a post-modern woman (per my mother) I try to give attention to the ingredients I have chosen to include in my life. I chose to have a husband. I chose to have kids. I chose to build an engrossing job. I chose to have cats. I choose other things too, but the things that are already here get priority. If I jam too many ingredients in there everything suffers. We all have living standards, but let's face it, as long as no one gets food poisoning and the kids aren't cold, there's a fair amount of leeway on how clean a house actually has to be.
Maybe it's more important to proudly state what we actually did get done in a given day - and what we had to ignore to get those things done. Maybe if we're honest about the sacrificial backbeat we can get our priorities straight and stop feeling guilty about woulda shoulda coulda looked like Martha Stewart's airbrushed cat hair-free menu for living.
Yeah.
Today:
Stat holiday for me. Got up at 7:30 am. Did some work email. Comforted my daughter who's been sick and listened to some prattle without getting impatient. Brushed her hair. Helped make sure folks took their medicine. Petted the crazy cat and the sane cat. Put sick husband to bed. Rest of day: TBD but will include a pot roast and work on the book.
Yesterday:
Woke to a chorus of coughs from the family. Got medicine and juice at Shopper's Drug Mart. Doctored my family. Attended Remembrance Day Service via TV - if I sing all the songs, stand with the audience, pray and show reverence during the 1.5h service it counts and it's still an example to the kids. Did 2 loads of dishes. Made hot lunch of spaghetti and home made meatballs (deferred from Sat). Cleaned messy spaghetti residue off table and carpet. Got someone to feed and water the cats. Broke one of my prized captain's chairs, though hopefully it can be fixed. Dropped D. off at long-awaited SkyFall movie. Took kids to Value Village. Bought trinkets and books to build Xmas presents. Got stuff for M.'s Halo costume build. Got kids fruit smoothies from Tim Horton's (so tired of finding half-eaten double chocolate donuts ground into the seats). Moved furniture around. Scolded kids into shoes and coats so I could pick up D. from the movie. Fended off demands from kids for game tokens so they could play in the arcade. Reheated remains of lunch for dinner. Reminded D. to call relative. Helped supervise kids' computer/XBox time. Alternately broke up/escalated squabbles. Did 2.5h of company work laced with YouTube songs. Wrote a snippet of Remembrance day prose for FB. Snugglebunnies. Oh, and probably had too much caffeine.
What I didn't do: Get sick (yet). Write for the book, except mental notes. Meaningful personal care. Exercise, unless walking through Value Village counts. Diet.
Yes, we have laundry and dishes and recycling to go out. I need to plan Xmas stuff. I need to finish the book before it turns around and eats me.
Maybe what's more worthwhile is declaring what we've already done and what we gave up for those things. A recent post by a celebrity blogger essentially admitted that she had to ignore (as in IGNORE, not just put on hold) her husband and kids to keep up on appearances. Which seems to cancel out the accomplishments. Which is more important?
As a post-modern woman (per my mother) I try to give attention to the ingredients I have chosen to include in my life. I chose to have a husband. I chose to have kids. I chose to build an engrossing job. I chose to have cats. I choose other things too, but the things that are already here get priority. If I jam too many ingredients in there everything suffers. We all have living standards, but let's face it, as long as no one gets food poisoning and the kids aren't cold, there's a fair amount of leeway on how clean a house actually has to be.
Maybe it's more important to proudly state what we actually did get done in a given day - and what we had to ignore to get those things done. Maybe if we're honest about the sacrificial backbeat we can get our priorities straight and stop feeling guilty about woulda shoulda coulda looked like Martha Stewart's airbrushed cat hair-free menu for living.
Yeah.
Today:
Stat holiday for me. Got up at 7:30 am. Did some work email. Comforted my daughter who's been sick and listened to some prattle without getting impatient. Brushed her hair. Helped make sure folks took their medicine. Petted the crazy cat and the sane cat. Put sick husband to bed. Rest of day: TBD but will include a pot roast and work on the book.
Yesterday:
Woke to a chorus of coughs from the family. Got medicine and juice at Shopper's Drug Mart. Doctored my family. Attended Remembrance Day Service via TV - if I sing all the songs, stand with the audience, pray and show reverence during the 1.5h service it counts and it's still an example to the kids. Did 2 loads of dishes. Made hot lunch of spaghetti and home made meatballs (deferred from Sat). Cleaned messy spaghetti residue off table and carpet. Got someone to feed and water the cats. Broke one of my prized captain's chairs, though hopefully it can be fixed. Dropped D. off at long-awaited SkyFall movie. Took kids to Value Village. Bought trinkets and books to build Xmas presents. Got stuff for M.'s Halo costume build. Got kids fruit smoothies from Tim Horton's (so tired of finding half-eaten double chocolate donuts ground into the seats). Moved furniture around. Scolded kids into shoes and coats so I could pick up D. from the movie. Fended off demands from kids for game tokens so they could play in the arcade. Reheated remains of lunch for dinner. Reminded D. to call relative. Helped supervise kids' computer/XBox time. Alternately broke up/escalated squabbles. Did 2.5h of company work laced with YouTube songs. Wrote a snippet of Remembrance day prose for FB. Snugglebunnies. Oh, and probably had too much caffeine.
What I didn't do: Get sick (yet). Write for the book, except mental notes. Meaningful personal care. Exercise, unless walking through Value Village counts. Diet.
Yes, we have laundry and dishes and recycling to go out. I need to plan Xmas stuff. I need to finish the book before it turns around and eats me.