Friday, January 15, 2010

Confessions of a non-housewife

Guess what my husband is doing as I write this? Cleaning. Vacuuming, dusting, wiping and disinfecting and Swiffering. And while he buzzes around the house doing these things, there is also a load of laundry in the washer. There's one in the dryer too. Because he put them there.

Guess what I am doing? Well, duh. But guess what I do every week (yes, this is a weekly event) while he cleans? Nothing. I know, I'm a horrible excuse for a wife. But I do bring home some serious bacon and some great health insurance, so I contribute. I even put my dishes in the dishwasher. Usually.

See, Mr. Clean is exactly that--he is just one of those very clean, organized people. He likes to be busy and he likes to be needed and this provides a way for him to fulfill both of those needs. It stems from an unfortunate place because he liked to keep the house clean in order to keep the peace between his alcoholic parents. They weren't awful or abusive or anything like that. But it kept the peace and he likes peace.

When we first started living together, I helped a lot. I did dishes, laundry, vacuumed, cleaned toilets, etc. But gradually as we have cohabitated over the years, I have gotten lazier (admittedly) and he has picked up my slack. At least when I was in college, working my ass off to get my teaching degree, there was an excuse for my lack of housewifelyness. Although the fact that I am currently 8 months pregnant gets me a get-out-of-everything-free card lately too.

I am entirely and eternally grateful for Mr. Clean because I KNOW my life would be chaos without him. I also know that he is going to make a GREAT dad because he is so willing to help out (and/or do the majority of the work) around the house. And I have a feeling that once our little bundle of joy has arrived, he will prove to me all over again why I am insanely in love with him--because he takes care of me like no one else ever could (or would want to, for that matter) and I know he will take even better care of her.

1 comment:

Casey said...

I married a woman too, don't worry. My husband cooks and cleans and helps with the kids. It's grand. I do the manly stuff like mow the lawn, clean the gutters and install ceiling fans.