Did Donna Reed have it right?
Most of you have probably heard the name Donna Reed dropped here and there and for some of you, you may even remember her show or her acting career. But the main reason for me dropping her name in this article is her show, classily titled “The Donna Reed Show.” I personally am way to young to have watched the show that originally aired in 1958 to 1966 on ABC and have only caught a few reruns here and there, but she is only a figure to which I refer to. The real reason for this article is a lingering question that runs through my mind, and those of the women I talk to. Did Donna Reed have it right? The squeaky clean image, the home cooked meals, the perfect children, and of course looking fabulous while doing it.
This subject brings up a lot of controversy when discussed among women of every race, age and social status. If I needed to compare Donna Reed's character to a more modern day reference for those who don't know who Donna Reed even was, I'd see the character Bree Van de Kamp or Hodge, from Marc Cherry's Desperate Housewives that now airs on ABC. Her character is not nearly as sweet and kind as Donna was, but her spotless home, her efficiency, her obsessive compulsive behaviour and her love of wine, would definitely compare. The question is, is this the kind of wife our men look for? Is a woman who can get everything done and look fantastic while doing so what they crave? It's a question that I'm sure has been echoed since the early years of the last century.
Woman's liberation is not a subject that I like to talk about. I am not a huge fan of controversy or arguments, despite what my husband likes to say, and this topic happens to bring up all of that. I personally believe that it's a good thing that woman have the choice to work, to vote, and to live their own separate lives from men as equals. However if the woman chooses to stay home, whether it's to raise the children or simply because she doesn't have to work, what are her responsibilities? There are many books out there that have their opinions on this matter but unfortunately there is no exact hand book on the matter.
I grew up with a mother who took her turn staying home and going to work, so as kid growing up I got to see both sides of it. My mother isn't exactly the roll model I like to use most times but unfortunately she was the only thing I got to see growing up. As a kid I remember her cleaning and cooking and taking us to the park. She baby sat multiple children to help pay the bills. When she was working we went to a sitter and then off to school, nothing there helped me when I grew up. I am a stay at home mother of one and one on the way. My husband works, and he works a lot. He's always trying to put food on our table and roof over our head. It's not easy now days, and the hardest obstacle in front of us is our age. We are young parents trying to make it in this crazy world. Living off of one income is extremely difficult but it was a sacrifice we were both willing to make. We didn't want someone else to raise our children. We are both strong believers that if you are going to have children, you should raise them. I realise that this isn't always an option for most parents. Some are single parents who have to work to support their children, and others simply can't survive off of one income.
Once the question of staying home or working is figured out, it's what do you do from there that really gets my mind turning. I love my husband, probably more than most wives love their own husbands. He jokes all the time that I smother him and worship him to much but I can't help it, and that's what reminds me of the Donna Reed Show. I live for my husband, I truly do. Once he went back to work after my son was born a piece of me woke up that I didn't even know was there. It was what I like to call “Silent Respect”. I don't need to tell him that I respect him because I show it. My silent respect drove me to raise my son the best way I could for him, and to cook the best meals I could, for him. I also began to have this obsession with having the house as spotless as I could for when he got home from work. It wasn't that I believed that was what he would want I just believed that was what he deserved.
