Fantasies of Donna Reed

I feel "blah" today but at least I feel like writing. I guess I’ll write about how “blah” I feel. Lucky you!

I’m not depressed or experiencing any kind of weird social anxiety because of the holiday season. And, no, I have not stopped taking my meds because - knock on wood - I have no meds to take.

Work is boring. Gray cube walls. Gray ceiling. Blue-gray rug.

Home is where I want to be – warm and cozy, drinking hot chocolate, wrapping presents, listening to Christmas music.

But I can’t do that because I’m a “working mother.” I always hated that term. Don’t all mothers “work”? I could say, “I work outside the home,” but that sounds stupid too like, “I use the bathroom when I’m away from home.”

At times like this, I fantasize I am Donna Reed in some 1950s stay-at-home housewife sitcom. You know the kind. She wears her heels and pearls while cheerfully vacuuming or packing lunches for the kids before sending them off to school. Her children are well behaved and nicely dressed. Her husband has a good office job and is home by 5:30pm every night just in time for a beautifully home cooked meal to magically appear on the table followed by appreciative “ooohs!” and “ahhs!” Her house is spotless and tastefully decorated. They take a family vacation every year to places like The Grand Canyon and “the beach.” She’s a perfect size 6 – her “fat clothes” are a size 8. She’s on the PTA. She does charity work for her church. She has coffee with “the girls.” Domestic bliss.

Okay, okay…. don’t get your crinoline in a bunch. I know life was never truly like this back in the 1950s and I know today’s stay-at-home moms do not live in this type of chaos free environment now. That’s why I call it a fantasy. And it’s my fantasy so I can imagine anything I like so chill out.

It’s not that I’m disappointed with my life. I love my darling husband and my darling daughter. I take comfort in and enjoy the financial security working for Corporate America has brought to my family.

“I can bring home the bacon…fry it up in a pan…”

Whatever…

“I am woman hear me roar…”

Not even close…

I hate those songs. I’m a woman but I don’t need to “roar” to prove it to anyone. I’m just doing what I need to do. My career is not a hobby – it’s a necessity. Who knows what the future may bring? There may come a day when I could stay at home. My friends all tell me, “You’d be so bored at home! You wouldn’t like it.” Don’t be so sure – perhaps they don’t know me as well as they think. I believe I could find great satisfaction in being a full time Domestic Diva.

So anyway, that’s where I am today, enjoying my Donna Reed Fantasy. This too shall pass. It’s usually followed by my Murphy Brown Fantasy but I will save that for another post.