Leaving It To Beaver's Mom!

Is this what happens when you work a normal 8 to 5?  What a difference two hours make!  I came home after my first day back on a regular 5-day, 8-hour schedule and pulled a  June Cleaver! 
Read more below and see photos

I'm not used to all of this extra time.  Dinner was easy.  I had already decided we were having the leftover roast and vegetables from Sunday night.  That meant at least 2 hours of nothingness.  I sat around twittling my thumbs for a few minutes. But then I couldn't take it anymore.  I went upstairs and did the craziest thing ever.  I ironed 10 to 15 of Lon's dress shirts.

I love my husband and I love taking care of him, but I don't iron his clothes.  Up until a couple of weeks ago, we were getting his shirts dry-cleaned.  Then we decided that one of our goals for 2012 is to pay off both cars by 2013.  So dry-cleaning was scrubbed. 

I watched Lon iron is shirt this morning.  He looked so pitiful.  Like every man, he loves taking out a fresh, crisp shirt and just putting it on.  I felt like I had taken that piece of manhood from him.  I washed all his shirts Sunday night, and took them out of the dryer with care to keep them from being too wrinkled.  That way it wouldn't be too hard for HIM to iron.  

But as I entered the bedroom this evening and saw all the shirts on the bed, I thought about how pitiful he looked this morning.  Without any further thought, I plugged in the iron and spent the next hour and a half ironing every shirt on the bed and the ones already hanging in the closet.

It was the most domesticated thing I'd ever done in our 16-year marriage.  I've done the housewife thing - didn't like it.  I love taking care of my family, but I love working, too.  There's a small part of me that would love to stay home and be a domestic diva, but there's a bigger part of me that loves getting out and making a difference in a world outside my four walls.  

I respect women who choose to be housewives.  I'm actually quite jealousy of all that they do.  I follow the blog of a stay-at-home mom.  I love reading about her day and all that she does in just the morning alone - and she home schools her two children.  She's my hero! 

Look at me!  I even came home and put on my little (normally cute) sundress-turn-housedress with sweat pants.  Gotta find something else to do with this extra time!

I think it's all about knowing what you're good at doing.  I love cooking and watching my family eat a meal I've prepared.  Lon can sit back with his bib around his neck and his knife and fork in hand knowing he will be served.  But that's about where my domesticatedness ends. 

I love how Holly Robinson Peete put it during her time on "The Talk."  She said she fixes her husband's plate because she loves doing it - not because he wants her to do it.  I think men love women who can cook. And it makes them feel like a man to have their dinner served to them.  I love doing it, and I can see how it makes Lon feel.  But that's about where it ends. 

Anyway, Lon was very appreciative of my domestic deed.  It was like a weight lifted off his shoulders.  I'm glad I was able to do that for him.  I think I earned some points tonight, but I don't see this ironing business happening again.  I guess there's something to be said for having a little extra time on your hands.  I even got a blog post in before midnight! 

Perhaps my cool points will add up to an "s" on the "ct." I'm rocking (hint, hint).  Really, I think Lon and I both will be happy if I just put the 20 bucks back in the budget so he can feel like a man in his crisp, dry-cleaned shirts.  And I can put the domestic diva to rest.