Simple Life?

Well, I feel pregnant. Yeah, I know I AM pregnant... but that is not the point.

Anyway... I was posting on my pregnancy board and the helpfulness of husbands came up. Even after everything that has changed in recent years, there is still some gender-typing going on isn't there? Women are expected to keep house, cook meals, tend children and still be sweet and available. Men are expected to do heavy lifting, yard work, take out the trash and be providers of safety and shelter. It almost seems as if we are reverting to the times our grandparents were raising children. 1950's middle America is rearing it's head isn't it?

What exactly is middle America these days anyway? I think a lot of people are yearning for the safety and home life of days ago. Pretty little housewives with well behaved children and a husband that works 9-5 to put that Sunday roast on the table. Well, the price of roast has far surpassed the rate of salary growth and even though technology is "more affordable" now, at what price?

Education in this state is an abomination. Our lovely (gag, I didn't vote for the bastard) governor just told schools to cut something like $9 million out of their budgets. In a town that is still the fastest growing in the nation (and yes that includes children, duh) we can't bring teachers in at a fast enough rate or decent enough pay. We have shipped people in from foreign countries, where English is a second language already... still the shortage continues. Kids are being taught in cafeterias and gyms for lack of classrooms. Class sizes are totally out of hand with as many as 40 kids per teacher! Well, how many kids do you guess are being lost in the mix? Hundreds, thousands!

So, do I think some days that the simple life would be better? Move to a small town, have lots of babies, work the land. Sure, it sure sounds like more of a dream than what I'm living with today. Still I am glad to be alive now, to have a roof over my head, nice shoes on my feet and a full belly every night. I am uncertain of the world my child is entering, but the instinct has not changed. I will fight for my children and their future just as many generations before me have.

The simple life after all, ain't so simple.