I was having one of those days last week. I had a million and one things to do and I felt really, really under the weather. My Mum bless her decided I needed a giggle and sent me this. THE NEXT SURVIVOR SERIES 6 married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kidseach for 6 weeks. Each kid will play 2 sportsand
either take musicor dance classes There is no fast food. Each man must take care of his 3 kids, keep his assigned house clean, correct
all homework, and complete science projects, cook, do laundry, and pay
a list of 'pretend' bills with not enough money. In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week. Each man must remember the birthdaysof all their friendsand
relatives, and send cards outon time--no emailing. Each man must also take each childto a doctor's appointment, a
dentist appointment and a haircut appointment. He must make 1 unscheduledand inconvenientvisit per child to
the Urgent Care. He must also make cookiesor
cupcakes for a social function. Each man will be responsible for decorating his own assigned house, planting
flowers outsideand keeping it presentable at all times. The men will only have access to television when the kids are asleepand
all chores are done. The men must shave their legs,
wear makeup daily, adorn himself with jewelery, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, and keep fingernails polished and
eyebrows groomed During one
of the 6 weeks, the men will have to endure severe abdominal cramps, back aches, and have
extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or slow down from
other duties. They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and find time at least once
to spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting. They will need to read a book to the kids each night and in the morning, feed them, dress them, brush their
teethand comb their hair
by 7:00 am. A test will be given at the end of the 6 weeks, and each father will be
required to know all of the following information: each child's birthday, height, weight, shoe size, clothes size and doctor's
name. Also the child's weight at birth, length, time of birth, and length of
labour, each child's favourite colour, middle name, favourite snack, favourite song,
favourite drink, favourite toy, biggest
fear and what they want to be when they grow up. Oh yes, did I mention that they have to work a 40 Hour/Week job in addition
to these few tasks and feed the dog, oops got to keep that water bowl filled!? The kids vote them off the island based on performance. The last man wins only if...he still has enough energy to be intimate with
his spouse at a moment's notice. If the last man does win, he can play the game over and over and over again
for the next 18-25 years eventually earning the right To be called Mother! I found it very funny however it got me thinking.Is this really how we as women see our lives. Do we see our days as though they are filled with obligation and little joy. Are we really the only workers in our homes and do we really deny ourselves pleasure just to complete the daily tasks? I don't know about you but my household isn't like this. I got married last December. I hadn't lived with my husband before we got married as we had a perfect set up, he had his flat, I had my house and we lived a 2 minute walk from each other. This meant we could run our homes how we liked without stepping on each others toes. When we married I spent my first couple of weeks rushing around like a blue-arsed fly washing, cleaning, cooking and generally trying to be perfect, my husband didn't bat an eyelash. NO thank you's, NO wow the flat looks great, just acceptance. It suddenly hit me the only person who was pleased by the cleanliness of the flat or irritated by the pile of dirty dishes was me. My husband is a warm, loving amazing man but he really doesn't give 2 hoots if there are clean socks or a store of toothpaste, he'll happily run out and survive. I on the other hand having been a single Mum for more years than I care to remember had fallen into the age old trap...we are told we can and should be able to do it all. We sacrifice our joy, pleasure and sanity for a smooth running house which sparkles, but ultimately makes no-one happy. Now I'm not advocating living in filth, obviously certain things need to be done, dishes washed, food prepared etc, but does it all need to look so neat and tidy we're exhausted and dissatisfied by even a minor sign that our homes are lived in. I love the fact that as a woman I have options, I love that I can run a business and a home, I can choose to have children and a social life, but what I love most is that I have a choice to look at the options and select the bits that work for me. I know not every mother out there has enough money, I know that when you are in debt and exhausted it's hard to see light at the end of the tunnel, but I also know that you have a choice how your day feels. You can stress about the stuff that doesn't matter like dirty clothes and clean floors, or you can enjoy life. So try it today, spend 5 minutes doing something that makes you smile, without feeling guilty that you haven't washed up, or vacuumed the floor. Then tomorrow try 8 minutes, it'll soon become a habit and you'll find you smile a little more each day. |
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