Hopefully few mommies missed last night's airing of Quints By Surprise...with the lovely and endearing Jones Family. I'm willing to admit that I'm a total reality TV junkie for any show with meaningless drama; episodes that include everything and anything I don't have to think too much about or that just make me laugh after a stressful and long day at the office.
This show does something a bit different for me. It makes me want to be a better mother....it makes me want to do more for my children. Sometimes, I battle my maternal needs of wanting to be a stay-at-home mom; Betty Crocker meets June Cleaver in the Brady-Bunch household. This tussling with the other side that wants to be Erin Brockovich; climbing the corporate ladder as fast as I possibly can and bringing home my own bacon thank you very much. The Jones family has me wanting to send in my resignation letter, join
PTA and trade in my honda accord for a minivan.
When I watch Casey Ann handle her five three-year-olds, along with her older daughter Eliot; I think...what am I complaining about?! This woman does it all. She cooks for all the kids, she bathes them all, she puts them to sleep...no nannies, no complaining....all the while clicking photos with her camera and bustling around her spotless, gorgeous house. And-no glass of wine in her hand at 6 o'clock. What?
Last night I viewed Casey and Ethan discussing how crazy they were for potty training the quints, their new dog, and attempting to get the quints in toddler beds and ditch the cribs...all at once. I thought about my own household; I have a hard enough time trying to simply get the laundry done and dinner on the table-who has time for a dog? And thank God for my babysitter Nancy, who basically handles the potty training department.
What makes a family so wonderful? Is it the TV producers and knowing that you are being filmed for all America to see? I mean, Casey and Ethan both look like they stepped out of a fashion magazine...where after a day with two kids I'm wrinkled, smudged, and broken down. Or, is that good ole', God-fearing, southern family outlook that us in other parts of the world are lacking?
Whatever it is, I love it. I'm going home tonight, cooking dinner (no wine!), giving baths, delivering stories at bedtime...all with a smile on my face and excitement about my very less-than-extravagant but also very satisfying life.
Make sure and tune in next Tuesday to TLC ya'll! ~Trina
