Doing the Housewife Thing

First, let me say that I am beginning to understand better why Jackie did not like being stuck at home all those years, even when I was making enough money that we could afford it.

OK, that's out of the way.  I have been home long enough between jobs this time that I am beginning to take my role as homemaker a little more seriously than I have previously.  I get up and feed the dogs, help Jarrod get breakfast and lunch together, clean and put away the dishes, do laundry, clean the house, go shopping, pick up Jarrod at school when necessary, take him to Boy Scouts, pay the bills.  I do some volunteer work, keeping the books for the scout troop.  It keeps me busy.

There are some advantages.  The commute is great.  The dress code is very relaxed; I am wearing shorts right now, but even that is optional.  The hours are flexible.  I can mostly schedule my own time.  All together, it's not as much work as working.  I take time to watch TV or play on the computer or write a blog post.

There are also disadvantages:  You don't get paid for running a household.  Nevertheless, it isn't a vacation; you can't just enjoy the time.  The work is not very rewarding, and I think that this is the big factor.  Yesterday I had a busy day, went to the bank, did some Boy Scout accounting and made a deposit at their bank, bought groceries, checked on having programs printed for Lucas's Eagle Scout ceremony, steam-cleaned the carpet in the loft, did a load of laundry, did dishes, cleaned up after Jarrod in the loft and his room, got Jarrod after school, made dinner.  Important stuff, no doubt, but the problem is, none of it feels like much of an accomplishment.  I can see why some people might learn to take a lot of pride in their cooking, or their knitting, or even in how shiny their floors are, because you want to feel some sense pride in something.  You can feel good over time about raising a kid, but day to day most of it is getting them to school, making sure they do their homework, feeding them, clothing them, doing their laundry -- boring stuff.

And like many jobs, it never ends, and it never feels like enough.  After you have dusted every surface, pulled every weed, paid every bill, waxed every floor, cleaned out the refrigerator, cleaned under the refrigerator, power-washed the driveway, and changed the furnace filters, you still haven't washed all the windows, straightened up the garage, or repainted the walls, and they need it.  Then you can start all over.  You never get there; you just trudge along.

So yeah, maybe I need to work.