The June Cleaver in Me

One of the great things about living in a foreign country is that when you turn on the TV everything is... well, foreign. Since I'm not really into TV it works for me but the boys don't like it much. So a few months ago we started looking on-line for some good TV sitcom DVD collections for the boys to watch. Among the thousands (literally, T-H-O-U-S-A-N-D-S) of options available Robert and I decided to get the first season of Leave it to Beaver.

If you haven't seen Leave it to Beaver in a while- it worth revisiting. I will admit it is a little bit on the cheesy side but it is funny and clean and totally... boy! I have to confess that I love that the boys like it. I love hearing Spencer say "Ah, gee Mom" when I ask him to do something he dosen't want to do and hearing Ross tell me everything is "swell" when I ask him how his day was. I even enjoy watching a episode or two with Spencer and Ross on occasion. But the thing that I really like about Leave it to Beaver is watching June Cleaver in her role as wife and mother.

I don't know about you but I grew up thinking June Cleaver (as the embodiment of the female stay at home mom stereotype) was laughable. Not only did I think she was impractically perfect- I was offended that the media thought stay at home moms should be! I thought the sole purpose of her existence was to make normal women (who clean the house in ratty sweats and occasionally yell at their kids) feel inadequate. Never in my young adult imagination did I ever considered June Cleaver a role model in anyway... but that was before. Having watched her in action recently I have changed my tune.


Here is what I have noticed about June Cleaver. She is patient and kind with her children. She is loving toward her husband. She is witty and spontaneous (in a very traditional sort of way). She is intelligent (though a little too easily tricked by her boys at times). She expects a lot from the people she loves but never turns her back on them when the don't measure up. June Cleaver is perfectly content in her role as a wife and mother. She is never bitter or resentful that her stay at home life style is keeping her from getting the job she always wanted or spending more time with her friends. Her house is spotlessly clean, her yard perfectly manicured, her appearance immaculate. She has snacks ready and waiting when her boys get home from school and dinner on the table every night when her husband gets home from work. I mean seriously- isn't that what every woman wants? To be perfectly capable and fulfilled in their role as a woman? To feel as put together and on top of life as June appears to be? I don't know about you but that certainly sounds good to me.


So I've decided to spend some time finding the June Cleaver in me. I know she is in there somewhere- that beautiful, content, fulfilled woman I've always wanted to be. I'll let you know when I find her.