Things I do I never let my kids do

I am sitting in front of my computer eating orange sherbet out of the carton.

I never let my kids do that. I do a lot to things now I didn't let them do. Like let the bed go unmade until bedtime, and why bother at that point? I leave my shoes under my chair in the living room and stumble around looking for them the next morning.

 Way back in the Dark Ages a woman went to college to earn her Mrs. Over half my class was engaged or married before we graduated. Unfortunately (for me), during those four years there was a paradigm shift, and women were now expected to Get a Job.

So I got married and got a job, both during the summer after graduation. But, I tried to keep a foot in both worlds. I bore and raised three sons, worked, and insisted that my house reflect the standards of a stay-at-home housewife.

My boys were swept into my delusion. They had to keep their rooms neat, were assigned chores (just as my  mother assigned weekend chores to my sister and me), and were regularly screamed at when things got out of place -- which happened often when they were teenagers.

My apologies to them here. And to my daughters-in-law, you are welcome. Some of it rubbed off and the boys turned out to be pretty decent partners, cooking meals and doing the laundry without beings asked. Even changing diapers.
  
 As for me, my interests have expanded beyond housekeeping and I don't have the time or inclination to have my floor so spotless you can eat off it. Who wants to eat off a floor, anyway?

I just hope the next time one of my sons visits, he won't say, "Mom, you can write your name  in the dust on this coffee table."