Stephenie Freeman
For this Mother’s Day all I want is to be more like June Cleaver on the much-loved sitcom, Leave It to Beaver. Before you stop reading, there is no need to be alarmed. I am not referring to wanting to wear shirtwaist dresses and pearls, and there’s no way I’ll ever have home-cooked dinner on the table every night at 5 o’clock sharp. The June Cleaver that I want to be like is one that few of us have ever seen.
The other Saturday morning, I was flipping through the television
channels after putting my youngest down for a nap. Finding nothing new
to watch, I stopped on TV Land to watch June Cleaver ice a perfect,
double-layered chocolate cake. I snickered as I watched her. The kitchen
was perfectly clean as June sat on her stool and iced her perfectly
round cake. There was no mess, no icing everywhere and when Beaver hit
the door with a mouse in a sack, June didn’t skip a beat.
I looked over at my own kitchen. The milk was still sitting out from
breakfast. There were crumbs on the counter and several cabinet doors
had been left open. The trash was over flowing and there was cheese on
the floor from last night’s dinner. The box of brownies that I was
planning on baking later was somewhere in the pantry behind the boxes of
other processed foods. I was still in my pajamas, and my three year old
was getting into the Playdough. I was not matching up to June’s
standards and I could feel it.
It was after the commercial that it happened. As I looked back at the
television I noticed that something was different. As Wally came home
from school his mother didn’t greet him at the door with milk and
cookies. Instead, Wally found his mother lying down with her feet up on
the couch looking at a magazine! I could not believe it and neither
could Wally.
Wally: “Mom, are you sick?”
June: “No, Wally, I’m just resting.”
Wally: “But why?”
June: “I know it’s against the rules Wally. Just don’t tell anyone.”
(Smile)
Could it be true? Was it possible that June Cleaver the mother of all
mothers, the wife we all wish we could be actually took time out of her
day to rest? And she even joked about it! In all the episodes I have
ever watched, June is always doing something. Cooking dinner, cleaning
the kitchen, painting trash cans (in that one she actually wore jeans)
and making sack lunches. Now suddenly it all made sense; a light bulb
moment. She was able to be super mom because she actually took time out
for herself. It truly wasn’t all about Ward and the boys. June actually
did things for herself too. Hallelujah and Amen!
My guilt of imperfection began to melt away. If June took time out of
her busy day of baking cakes and playing hostess to her bridge club to
relax, then I certainly could let the Goldfish crumbs sit on the counter
a little longer. As the show ended, I looked back at my kitchen that was
still a mess. I then turned my head 180 degrees to the stack of
magazines from the last three months that I hadn’t gotten around to
reading. For the first time in months, I turned my back on the mess and
followed June’s example.
So to all of you mothers out there who stress that the house isn’t as
clean as it should be, feel guilty that dinner came out of a box, or
wore your sweats with the juice stain just one more time before
washing—just remember—even June Cleaver took a break! So this Mother’s
Day, let’s all try to be a little more like June.
Previous Posts:
Excitement About
the Small Things
The Lies We
Parents Tell
Birthdays to
Remember
Can You Hang
Tinsel On A Recycling Bin?
To read more from Stephenie, visit her site!
Mama Wants More
A column for today's mother who has it all and still wants more
because you're a mother, a wife, a citizen, a consumer. You're
unappreciated, underpaid, and over qualified for wiping bottoms &
cleaning toilets. But this was your dream. This is what you always
wanted. you love your life, but you still want more . Me too.
