My So-Called Homeschool

Barbara Curtis of Mommy Life is having an apron picture contest. There are still a few days to enter, so find a picture of you with your apron on and head on over. I’ve never thought about my apron much, but as a former staunch feminist, Barbara has a lot to say about what the apron, once a symbol of female slavery, now means to many of us regarding the decision we have made to stay home. I have to admit, when I put that apron, I feel like I’m in the uniform of the career I’ve chosen. Shlumping around in sweats or jeans-and-a-t may be my normal mode, but I constantly have to remind myself that this is the life I chose. I was not forced into this, the choice to stay home was a decision made after a lot of thought and prayer. Here’s the picture I sent to Barbara and a little bit of the story behind my apron:

I don’t have many pictures of myself in an apron — I’m usually the picture-taker. My absolutely favorite apron is one that belonged to my husband’s grandmother. She passed away the year we were married, I only met her once before that, but we have a common apron. It’s definitely vintage; a red, yellow, and green print of quaint Pensylvania Dutch folkart. When I wear that apron and cook from her 1955 Betty Crocker cookbook, complete with penciled notes in the margins, I feel like I know her quite well!

In this picture taken October 2005, I’m wearing my favorite apron, and the girls are wearing aprons my mother made from vintage fabric found in my grandmother’s attic. I think both grandmas would be proud!