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I blame June Cleaver.
I blame Pledge commercials and shiny shampoo ads and the very existence of Hamburger Helper.
There has been, in the collective conscious of anyone who has been exposed to a GLIMMER of popular culture in the past half-century, an ideal. Or, more, an idea that somehow became ideal. This idea formed as the popular media showed us images of housewives in pearls and sparkling clean houses, raising well mannered children and keeping a satisfied husband. Over the years, this idea grew to include perfection in almost every area of domesticity and parenting. No more ring around the collar! Choosy moms choose Jif! And every single one of the kids on the Brady Bunch kissed their parents good night and did their chores. Every picture of family, parenting, and overall home life brought to my young and blossoming mind two very real truths: that my parents were doing it all wrong; and that I would someday do it right.

This, of course, was a truth that held fast UNTIL the day I actually had children.
Now I know it was all a web of lies dreamed up by Madison Avenue and Aaron Spelling to mess up our society....to confuse us to the point of not knowing what is reality and what is Folder's Crystals. There is no way, NO WAY, to keep a perfect house and raise perfect children and keep a husband happy, and not want to crawl into the appliance cabinet and drink a whole bottle of wine every night.
The really messed up part is that we have been made to focus so intently on streak-free floors and April fresh sheets, that it has been made so easy to let the "parenting" part of having kids slide a little. The carpet has to be vacuumed, so put the kids in front of the TV. Folding and fluffing the towels takes time, so buy Junior a new video game to keep him from getting under foot. The end result is a nation full of houses that could be in magazines....and parent/child relationships in shambles.
Hey, I am not pointing fingers here. I do it too, and a lot. There is not enough time in the day. When we do find an extra three seconds, something new comes along that takes five. Something has to give somewhere. A neglected marriage is a sign of failure, so we don't let those slide as easily as our parents did. Remember when they would sit side by side on the couch and not even talk to each other? The parents on TV never did that. Our parents were messed up. A neglected house is an embarrassment and BIG social no-no. Did the moms on TV

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