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I wanted a quiet year- you know- the kind where I'm NOT running around to sporting events.
I know.
But I really did think it wouldn't be like last year! Boy, was I wrong. So, going to all of Chet's t-ball, and Amaris' tennis practices, I met up with the same circle of moms who I've been seeing for years- at school, in clubs, playdates, and sporting events. These moms belong to a certain clique I'm not aware of. Listening to them was like watching pit vipers defend their nests- but with smilies. Smiling vipers.
That was when I realized that we have an epidemic on our hands.
It seems I'm the only one who sees this epidemic, so I'll name it. I'll call it, uuh, Competitive/Envious Housewife Disorder- or CEHD.
We, as women, hold A LOT of pride. Pride in what we do, how well we do it, and how we look while doing it.
Taking your kids to sporting events, you can always see the clusters of housewives chatting it up- feigning horrible dilemmas such as grass stains, vacuuming, laundry, and dinner. They all look perky. Hair in place, make-up on, kids all together- PERFECT!
Or are we?
We feign imperfection, while trying to show perfection. We try our very best to prove that we are all together, and then for modesty's sake talk about how we DON'T have it all together. So, I ask of you housewife, mama, or both... Which is it?
See, I believe the symptoms of CEHD are in the heart. Ask yourself these questions to see if you have CEHD:
1. Do you replace your child's stained t-shirt with a clean one before a playdate, even though you know the clean one will be trashed by the end of the day?
2. Do you do your hair and makeup, and put on your cutest clothes to go to a t-ball game, only to tell the other moms that your hair and clothes are a mess?
3. Do you ever scrub your entire house before someone comes over, only to lament at what a cluttered and disorganized horror it is?
4. Do you judge other parents that look disheveled and stressed?
5. Do you put the name-brand snacks you bought at Walmart in a Wegmans bag before taking it to the game?
WHY?
See, I have a theory. I believe we as women dress and behave not to make ourselves look nicer for our husbands and to honor and glorify God, but to provoke envy in other women. It's all competition. And when we see another lady who "has it all together", we are envious of them. We covet what they have- or seem to have.
We are dissatisfied with what God has blessed us with, because it's not what Suzie-Q's mom has.
Now that we have come up with whether or not you are suffering from ( or enjoying) CEHD- I guess we should have a cure. Good thing there is one.
Phillipians 2:3 Let nothing be done by selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself
James 4: 7-10 Therefore, submit to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse you hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up.
