A Woman’s Work is.... (sniff, sniff.. What’s that smell?)

I burned the almonds. No surprise to anyone who knows me -- I almost ALWAYS burn the almonds when I try to make Mom's ramen noodle/cole slaw salad. Now I admit: almond toasting is NOT rocket science. And I was valedictorian of my senior class, for goodness sakes! I should be able to handle this assignment, and probably could do so on a fairly regular basis if almond toasting were all that I had on my plate, so to speak.

Seriously. I ask all the women readers: When do we EVER have only ONE thing on our proverbial plate? In my own defense, I was making several dishes for the family reunion, my eyes were burning from chopping onions, and I was mentally calculating what year Grandma's eightieth birthday party was held so I'd have some idea of which box of photo albums in the attic might have the best chance of containing the picture of late Aunt Roselyn which I need to bring to the reunion. Additionally, I had a load of towels tumbling in the dryer and was putting away the last of the groceries we bought earlier when I smelled the odor of burnt almonds.

Even those of you who are --unlike me-- quite organized are probably nodding in empathy at this point because, Ladies, it's as true today as it was when Mrs. Anonymous first penned those words: "A woman's work is never done". And she seldom has the luxury of focusing on a single task as she juggles her many 'hats' -- wife, mother, employee, home-maker, church member, ranch hand, team mom, etc.

Today's housewife rearing children has a schedule that is mind-boggling. Get 'em up, get 'em to school, get to the pharmacy+vet+post office+dry cleaner+grocery store. Pick 'em up and taxi 'em to Little Dribblers/soccer/ Little League practice or their scouts or 4H meeting. Feed 'em supper then be sure they feed their project animals, do their homework, wear their retainer and wash behind their ears. Now scrounge up (a) a clean uniform for tomorrow's game, (b) cupcakes for the class party, and (c) enough lunch money to go around. Got the kids in bed at a decent hour? Pull your own stuff together to hit it hard tomorrow.

The working mother adds a 40-hour work week to this load. And the single mom -- Bless Her Heart! -- is juggling all of the above and carries the stress and worries of the finances/car problems/ health emergencies all alone. I don't know how you do it, but my hat is off to you.

Wonder Woman, in my mind, is not the gal with the red, white and blue bustier, knee high boots and gold tiara who flies an invisible plane. She is the single mother who manages to keep her family going and hang on to her sanity. She is the widow who is holding two jobs at the point in her life when she hoped to be enjoying retirement with her beloved husband. She is the divorcee' who manages to keep her self respect and a sense of humor in a small town where everybody knows your business. Super Woman is the primary caregiver who, day in and day out, cares for a special needs child or a parent or spouse suffering from the ravages of Alzheimers. She is the grandmother who has taken on the responsibility of raising her grandchildren and is doing it all. Again.

Indeed, a woman's work is never done, and it takes all of our energy and all of our senses to do the "jobs" that we love, and that give our lives meaning. We TASTE the agony of our husband's job struggles, our son's strikeout or our daughter's first heartbreak. We keep an EYE on our neighbors and an EAR out for the baby's cough. We FEEL for a hurting friend and SMELL... well, maybe the almonds burning.