Hausfrau Musings

I read this the other day in a book I'm reading, and I felt compelled to share. (I'm assuming most of you are like me and don't know a word of German, so I'll tell you in advance... hausfrau means housewife.)

"I think it's because there is a hausfrau amnesia - some magical mind eraser that blots out the struggles we experience on a daily basis. I believe it's the only way we can get out of bed in the morning and do it all over again. It's also why our species survives. But those struggles are precisely what we need to keep in mind, because our voices are lost when we don't tell the stories that make up our days." ~ Nicole Chaison, The Passion of the Hausfrau

Thank you to those of you out there who aren't afraid to tell the real stories behind being a parent. It's why I love blogs like www.rantsfrommommyland.com - although I don't personally know the two moms who write it, they're honest, funny and completely down-to-earth. Parenting is ridiculously hard. And I for one don't like it when I feel like I'm the only one who'll admit to that.

I'm apologizing now for all the blog posts in the past that have just shown pictures with one or two descriptive sentences. They were done that way because of a lack of time.... not a desire to deceive or share the real stories. Because what you don't know is that right after that "Sophie's first swim class" picture was snapped (this is coming soon, I promise), Sophie refused to do anything the teacher instructed and cried crocodile tears for 20 minutes. Immediately following the "Willamette Jet Boat Excursion" picture, we removed her life jacket to find a red blotchy rash all over her neck. Tim wanted to tell the boat driver to clean their jackets more frequently. I reminded him it was the WILLAMETTE river we were just drenched with. My germophobic side wanted to break down and sob on the spot.

The conclusion is this: I appreciate when your stories are shared..... the real, unedited stories. It makes me feel less alone in this hausfrau world.