Drastic Measures #5: Wife And Mother

I drag out of bed. Tim stumbles around looking through the piles of dirty clothes for something to wear. He heads to work without breakfast. I would have made him lunch but I'm too tired. I drop our daughter Cindy off at preschool. The babysitter will pick her up. I head in for the morning shift.

I stock the shelves as fast as I can. My co-worker is flirting with one of the male associates. I get chewed out because our shelves aren't stocked in time. My lazy co-worker doesn't. A woman walks up and asks if I work here. I'm thinking "No, I wear this goofy looking badge and vest because I am a concerned customer who helps out for free." What I say to keep my job is "Yes, ma'am. How may I help you?" The customer is always right. What a crock!

After dealing with irate customers that do not realize I have no control over the price of dog food in a totally different department and can't change prices because they only have enough to buy their designer jeans and not milk and bread as well, I swipe my badge and leave.

The Camaro cranks slow. It has gotten slower and slower every day. Tim will be happy. Now he can come home from laboring in a hot factory dead tired and change batteries. The car starts and I pick up Cindy on my way home. I part with a check that removes most of my wages. Such fun.

Tim comes home eating from a sack. His usual supper. I'm glad I stopped by McDonald's and got Cindy a burger, fries and a shake. At least she's happy this evening. I throw in one load of laundry so we don't look like hobos tomorrow.

While Tim repairs the Camaro with borrowed money I finish the laundry and make an attempt to straighten out the house. The cramps and aggravation of monthlies makes me dread it more than usual. Woe is me!

Now let's fast forward to five years down the road after Tim and I decide to find a way to straighten out this mess we call our marriage.

I wake up, shower, get dressed and make Tim and Cindy breakfast. Nothing extravagant, toast, eggs and milk. I make Tim's lunch. They come in and we all sit and eat as a family. Tim leaves for work and I take Cindy to school. I do the dishes and laundry. It's only one load as we live sparse and I keep on top of it.

I deep clean one room and pick up and dust the others. The bathroom gets cleaned every day because of germs. I put away a few items forgotten and clean whatever catches my attention. When the time comes I get Cindy and bring her home.

Some women think cooking is some demeaning chore. Not me. Cindy is by my side learning. We talk and laugh as we have grown closer. I'm no longer some stranger called mom. We talk about anything she likes. I answer some of her questions about how I am making a meal. We set the table about the time that Tim comes home. She runs to meet him at the door.

We eat supper and Cindy goes to her room to do homework. If she needs help Tim will help her. If he's busy I will. I do the dishes and spend the evening with my husband. We talk, watch a television show or sit on the porch. He tells me about his day and takes interest when I tell him about mine. We are not only talking but seeing how our new arrangement is working out. Cindy joins us many times.

On another day I am sewing a new dress. Cindy comes in and watches. She shows interest so I explain why skirt hooks are used with zippers on our skirts and zippers are on the back of our dresses. When she asks what some of the words are on the pattern such as "bodice" I explain what they mean. She asks about my sewing machine and I show her how to use the machine. She learns how to reload a bobbin and load a new spool of thread. Soon she'll do her first project by herself and I tell myself regardless of how it looks I should tell her she made a nice item. It's not really lying if she learns. I hope.

At another time Tim makes a fire in our back yard. We sit and talk and have a great evening. We roast marshmallows and drink a soda. Tim and I talk about the day and whatever may be going on in the news. Cindy converses with each of us about school, playmates at school and what she would like for her birthday. We have fun and then Cindy and I go in for the night while Tim puts out the fire.

This is an example how our life changed when we decided to make the changes which work and disregard what anyone else thinks. When we think for ourselves and place our family before ourselves and the opinions of family and friends. How we choose to spend this life and our precious family moments while our daughter is young enough to bond with us and learn. Some may find it boring. Some may think it's old fashioned. Some may think we're crazy. The truth is we are blessed.