My Perfect Saturday

I'm having a perfect Saturday. My cousin came over and picked up the piece of furniture that my TV had been on. I wanted to downsize to a smaller antique dresser. Photos to come. My den is a MESS. It's like I packed it up in 10 minutes. It isn't going back together in 10 minutes. It will probably take 10 days. How does that work?

I'm watching Mad Men- season 1. I love having an afternoon of marathon TV. This show is so well written. The setting is pure 1960. Lots of subtle satire comparing that era to the present day. Pregnant women smoking and drinking. EVERYONE smoking. Kids in no car seats. A little girl playing ghost with a plastic bag from the cleaner over her head and her mother chastising her that her "dry cleaning better not be on the floor of the closet".  The a woman's place is in the homeyness of the scripts would be funny if it wasn't such a true depiction of the inequalities that affected women in the years before the feminist movement.

Women's roles in the family, business and the world have changed and are still evolving. I came of age during that change. It was a confusing time to grow up. There's a part of me that thinks my meals should be perfect and my silver should sparkle. (Apparently so should my kitchen and bathroom!) Then there's the part of me that cannot imagine life without a career. Just as the kitchen sparkles, so should my work life. My oldest daughter gave me one of the best pieces of wisdom I've received in my life. "Mom, your generation thinks you can have it all and do it all. My generation knows we can have whatever we want, but we cannot do it all." 

So, we can pick what we want to excel at. And be gentle on ourselves about all the rest. And be glad that our daughters generation is not nearly as confused as we are!