On being a modern mom

I really enjoy reading blogs. I like to glean ideas from others and take a peek into their lives. I have recently been reading a lot about women with large families. It just amazes me how women with so many children do life. I am not talking about a few kids, I am talking between 7-13 kids. These women are amazing. Being on the brink of what I would consider a large family, I just like to see how they do it. They have a lot in common. They are very strong in their faith and convictions. Most of them homeschool, but there is another similarity that kinda bugs me.

See, I am a modern mom. No I don't recite Freud to my kids, but I don't languish over things old fashioned either. I don't get into Victorian decor and values. I like IKEA. I like modern lines and no clutter. I hate dried flower swags and lacy things. There is not one doily in my house. These women whom I am so fascinated with are all of the above. I like makeup, they don't. I like fashion, they could care less. It makes me wonder if I am too shallow to be a part of the big family club. Are there other moms like me who want to have lots of kids, but don't want to emulate little house on the prairie?

Don't get me wrong, I have learned a lot from these moms. I love my bread machine. It makes me feel very Donna Reed to have the smell of fresh baked bread envelope my home. I love all the meal ideas and crock pot recipes since cooking never has been one of my strong suits. I just don't yearn for the past. I don't like the idea of doing without all my modern day conveniences. I like tv. There, I said it. I like tv and my kids do too. Sure I read to them every day and we do wholesome family things, but I don't want a time machine. I don't want to sew my own clothes, probably because I am a horrible seamstress. I wonder if there are other moms like me who are just completely turned off at the notion that we should run upstairs and "freshen up" before our husbands darken the door. Should we clean up and wipe off the kids? Should we hide any proof of our stressful lives until he has had time to acclimate?

For me its a whopping no. I live in this little place called reality and it resides nowhere near Victorian England. Of course I want my husband to feel comfortable. That is why I cook and clean and do all the other millions of things that keep this place going. I am all for Biblical submission, but I don't think that the 50's or anywhere else in the past had it right. I think its more about respect as a 2 way street instead of a dictatorship. Whats wrong with being a modern June Cleaver who makes her own bread, but still uses pasta sauce from a jar? Whats wrong with watching a little Real Housewives of New Jersey after you put the kids to bed? I mean some things are non-negotiable. Seriously, you have to clean your house and do your laundry, but there should be grace for the things you haven't or don't intend to master.

I am just doing my best. I don't get everything right, but I do live in the present. I use the tools that modern living has afforded me. I homeschool with current curriculum and pay out the nose for it, but this is how I run my show. No doilies ( I really hate doilies), no dried flowers, no homemade flash cards, just me and my kids and the internet. Just plowing our way through.