Tomorrow is Halloween and as such, we are encouraged to wear
costumes to school today. My librarian
is an all-in, party, let’s do it person so of course we are going to dress up
and it is going to have a theme. The
first year we were witches which the kids really appreciated. Last year we were Teletubbies which I think
they appreciated even more. This year we
struggled for a good theme. When I say
that we struggled, I really mean she did because I just wanted to be
Rosie. Finally she got me to agree to be
a superhero and my immediate thought was Wonder Woman. I flashed back to me, age 6, Wonder Woman
Underoos and tinfoil bracelets and thought not that Wonder Woman. I flashed back to me age 20ish, downtown
Dallas and a homemade Wonder Woman costume that had very little fabric and
thought not that Wonder Woman either. I
moaned about not wanting to be this superhero or that and all I really wanted
to be was Rosie when she commented “Just be Rosie! She’s your superhero.” Light bulb forced on and done!
Yes, Rosie is a piece of war propaganda but I think she is
one of the best. Rosie encouraged women
to join the workforce and keep the war effort moving at home. History.com says it nicely with “American
women entered the workforce in unprecedented numbers during World War II, as
widespread male enlistment left gaping holes in the industrial labor force.
Between 1940 and 1945, the female percentage of the U.S. workforce increased
from 27 percent to nearly 37 percent, and by 1945 nearly one out of every four
married women worked outside the home. “Rosie the Riveter,” star of a
government campaign aimed at recruiting female workers for the munitions
industry, became perhaps the most iconic image of working women during the war.” They needed us and we responded. Of course the women were paid much less
than the men who held the same jobs and yes, they were kicked out of their jobs
when the men came home from war, but in that time they filled the roles that
needed to be filled. Superhero stuff for
sure.
But let’s think even more about Rosie. She answered the call and went to work. Probably for the first time in her life and
that is big. But guess what? Not all our Rosies were just working; many of
our Rosies were moms. They were still
raising kids and they were working while their husbands were shipped
overseas. They were raising kids and
working and growing Victory Gardens to supplement the food they couldn’t buy
due to rationing. They were raising kids and working while waiting for a letter
home saying that he was still okay, or he was thinking of her and that he
missed her too. They were raising kids
on their own and working while dreading a knock on the door, a telegram in
their hand, a finality they didn’t want to face. Goose bumps.
I admire the hell out of Rosie because in my own life, I am
a mom, I work and I sometimes grow a garden.
Thank God we don’t have to live on what we grow because the 15 tomatoes
and 38 green beans would not have gotten us far. There are many days where when I am doing all
that I do I feel like I am not doing any of it well. Or I do some of it well and fail the other
parts. I have days where I feel I rock
the parenting and tank the working. Or I
have a day at work where I give, give, give to kids who need it and have
nothing left to give my own kids. And
aside from the occasional date night or quiet coffee in the morning, the time I
spend with my husband is not always the best I have to offer. This had me feeling rather blah but as I
dressed up as Rosie today and drove to school, I started to think like Rosie
too. Maybe I am not doing it all well,
but I am doing it. I will probably not
be immortalized in any war time propaganda, but that is okay. I will take the
belly laughs from the teen, or the fleeting snuggles from the preteen after he
pours his heart out. I will revel in the
look my husband gives me when he laughs at something I said and tells me that
he like-likes me. I’ll store up the
“Thanks Ms. McMahons!” and remember that dotted throughout the day, I am doing
good things. Probably not all the good
things in all the places on any day, but I bet Rosie had her off days too.
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