Just Another Housewife

I've always had this terrible fear of the world seeing me as "just another housewife." I am beautiful, intelligent, and an extremely talented person at many things. I thought if I was deemed a "housewife," somehow that would define me. I think that's the biggest reason I always wanted a big career or profession. Because I've always thought my job title would define me. It would tell people whether I was respectable or not. It would give people the power to judge me by what I did and not who I was. People do that all the time, and I never want to be stuck with the "soccer mom" identity. Yes, I am a dance mom, and I've written a post about that a long time ago, but I'm also not just any other dance mom. I am the mother of a preschooler, but that doesn't describe me either.

What I think I'm trying to get at here is that I'm not the woman you would expect me to be if I just met you and told you I'm a stay-at-home mother and housewife with a preschool aged boy who is in ballet classes. I don't know about you, but to me, an image of a slightly overweight middle aged woman with mom clothes and a mom haircut and a freakishly fake friendly facade pops up in my mind when I hear about stay-at-home-moms and housewives. I've always been afraid to be put in that category.

I'm thinking about this because here I am fulfilling these roles that I've always been so scared to be associated with, so scared to be defined by. I am so much more complex and unexpected than the "happy housewife" image portrays. I'm starting to think that in the past I've been hesitant to embrace these roles of mother and wife because I was afraid if I did, then I would turn into that simplistic stereotype. What about the rest of me? There is so much more to me than that. How will people recognize my beauty, intelligence, and talents if they are hidden behind the image of a mother and wife?

Yet still, here I am. I am cleaning the house, vacuuming, doing laundry, doing dishes, picking up after other family members, organizing the house and making sure there is a place for everything and everything is in it's place. I am cooking meals while giving time-outs and listening to how my husband's day at work was. I am sitting down with my son and coloring with him, reading him books, and teaching him about letters, numbers, days of the week. I am taking my son to dance classes and visiting with other dance moms. I am doing a damn good job at the stay-at-home-mom and housewife thing.

So do I fit the stereotype yet? Not even close :)
I can still drink with the best of 'em. I still cuss all the time. I still look damn fine in a bikini. I'm still sexy, don't matter if I'm "domesticated" or not. I roll up to pick my son up from preschool with the Acura bumping. I want a speedometer that maxes at 160mph over an SUV that's nice and "roomy." I wouldn't be caught dead in public wearing "mom" clothes. I'm always stylish and makeuped and put together in a hot, gorgeous sort of way. I'm 28 and I still get eyed suspiciously and asked for my ID right away when I order an alcoholic beverage. I'm not into "playdates" so please don't suggest arranging one. If you're a mom, you should be warned that I like my kid, but don't confuse that for me saying "I like kids." I don't. I probably won't like yours. I might pretend I do for a minute or two. I graduated college with a 3.94 GPA. I will beat you at trivial pursuit and then tell you to kiss my fabulous ass. I keep it real with my kid. He's a 5 year old, not a homeless animal, he doesn't need to be "sheltered."

I'm also a talented writer, photographer, artist, and model, among many other things, and though I'm not currently getting paid for those things, I don't need a job title to tell me who I am anyway. And as far as I'm concerned, if you see me as just another housewife, then you're the simple-minded one, not me.