An Ordinary Life

I don't think it ever occured to me as an undergraduate overachiever that in less than a decade and a half, I would feel a sense of accomplishment putting all of the laundry away. While the four of us generate quite a bit of laundry, I never really considered that such an ordinary chore could give me such an sense of accomplishment.  Yet every week, as I finish, I think "SUCK IT, LAUNDRY! I WIN AGAIN!" My husband is managing millions of dollars of other people's money and I'm smug about the laundry.

I don't really think I ever considered as an undergrad how much I would enjoy homemaking. I've spent enough time on internet message boards to know that the art of homemaking is no longer considered an art. My (single sex) alma mater dropped its home economics major several years before it went co-ed. I honestly doubt there is a home economics major or minor anywhere in the US these days. It occurs to me that perhaps, in our fight for gender equality, we have done ourselves a great disservice by trivializing a role that very satisfying for some people. I am an intelligent, capable woman. There are many things I could be doing well if I wanted to work outside my home. I have chosen instead to focus my efforts on my family and my home. Many women (far more intelligent, capable, and educated than me) are dropping out of the work force and rediscovering what it means to be a homemaker. They too are finding satisfaction in the mundane tasks of everyday living: putting laundry away, preparing meals, keeping a tidy home. It is not glamourous. It isn't always fun. But I find it immensely satisfying nonetheless.