Mrs. Draper

When I was a little girl I dreamed of being a wife and a mother. I wanted a GIANT family and promised myself I would love the noise of children.

I knew I would be the mom who had the clean home and the laundry would be done. I would dress nicely for my husband and make sure that I looked nice. Kinda Mad Men-ish. (Haaaaaaaaa)

But as I got older my dream changed. Yes I still wanted to be a wife and a mother but I also wanted to be a psychologist and a photographer. Can you imagine my college degree (if i had one) Major in Psychology minor is photography. What would I do with that? Take pictures of my patients. That would be awkward. 

The Mad Men....fantasy still existed but became less important. 

I mean my husband married me for more than my looks and the clothes I wore so why do I have to dress nice for him. If i dress nicely it is for myself so that I can feel better. 

Then children came along and instead of looking at my responsibilities as a mother and a wife as a wonderful "job" I started to look at it as a get out of jail free card. I don't need to dress nice I am not leaving the house. My husband loves me just the way I am.  He is wonderful and really does Love me no matter what, but when did I stop caring about the way I looked?

On top of that It is very difficult as a Christian to not fall into the "poor is better" mentality. There is also a fine line between vanity and materialism and looking nice and loving fashion. 

I was not raised to think poor is better. I was raised that God blesses those who are faithful. Sometimes with wealth and sometimes in other ways. 

I was raised in a full time ministry family. We did not have a lot of money growing up. We didn't have extravagant holidays or expensive things but I look at pictures of my family and we always looked nice. We always had clean clothes and had cute outfits on. They were not Polo or Ralph Lauren but they were nice. The majority of them hand me downs.

My husband is in full time ministry and here I am faced with the reality we will never have the money that some people have.  I am not complaining I am just stating what has been the "norm" in ministry. I am ok with that. I mean I get jealous of people who have money or people who can just by what they want without thinking of the stupid budget. But I am so blessed wayyyyyyyyy beyond what I deserve and I am so very thankful for the opportunity to live in one of the most expensive county's in the country and on top to be able to stay at home with my children. Its tough and coupons are my favvvv but I LOVE my life.

Anyway...not the point of this.

A few years ago I started following blogs. Mostly craft and fashion blogs. Blogs like this NY mom, and this one,  this lady is amazing. I noticed a few things. One they are all Mormon. Two they all dress really well and Three they have amazing homes. Not fancy expensive homes. Just neat well taken care of homes.  As I read about baby trouble and watched beautiful house tours I started to see that these women really take pride in what they do. They really are proud to be a mom and a wife. They like to be a Homemaker.

I don't know what happen to our society, but somewhere in the quest for women's rights and hippies, being a homemaker became a bad thing. I mean I don't want to be Mrs.Draper or anything. I love the fact that we as moms/wives are not expected to sit around and cook all day. Wait for our husbands all day and not have any type of life. I like that If i wanted I could go out and get a job and be the career women. I like that God made me much more than just a mother to three little girls and a wife to an amazing husband. He gave me talents and creativity.
But what happen to Mrs. Draper? What happen to taking pride in myself and my home? Dressing nicely for my husband?

Now, I own my share of sweats and often wear my insanely think hair in a bun. My laundry is NEVER caught up and I dream of the mornings when my husband is home to do the morning rush and I can sit and drink a cup of coffee in peace.  My house is always a mess. I try I really do!
Somewhere along the way I lost the desire to take pride in my job as a mother and my job as a wife.


I write this all because I am challenging myself. (u too if you want to) I am going to take pride in myself I am going to take care of my home and be the best wife and mother I can be. I am going to put in as much effort into this majorly important job as I would if I was working my way up the career ladder.

We will see how this goes. haaa Lets see how long before I am wearing sweatpants on a daily basis again.