Live From Mommyville

Living Vicariously Through Others...

I'm actually a frightening person. Ok, not too threatening. Just mildly psychotic. It's how I survive. My husband says I don't want real life, I want perfection. This, I suppose, explains my love for old movies and 1950's sitcoms.

When I was younger, a family friend thought I should be an actress when I grew up. When I asked her why, she said, "Because you are always pretending to be someone else." Hmmm. As a kid I had this picture on my dressing table…

…fine and dandy, except I used to pretend Clark Gable and Carole Lombard were my real parents. As a teenager I was fixated on Princess Diana and Gone with the Wind. In my early twenties, I'd walk around the track at BYU giving imaginary interviews to Barbara Walters about my "relationship" with JFK Jr. And up to a few days before my wedding, I had an ENORMOUS poster of Brad Pitt on my closet door.

But marriage and three kids have been a major reality check. In fact, nothing gets your feet on the ground faster than a mortgage, runny noses and homework deadlines. Oh, I'm still living vicariously through others. However, these days my fantasies revolve around things like a clean house, an empty laundry hamper and landscaping. I dream about developing Tanya's organizational skills, acquiring LJ's culinary sense, and I just plain covet Joan's beautiful front yard. But good things come to those who wait, right?

So, I’m not walking down the red carpet, I’m cleaning it. But real life, it turns out, suits me just fine. At the end of the day, I have three kids who wrap their arms around me and bestow the most delicious hugs. I love being a mom. And I'm pretty sure that's not just because some days I walk around pretending to be June Cleaver.

Waaaay cuter than Mr. Pitt...