One day after work, I came home to my husband in the kitchen cutting some type of vegetation. I figured it was lettuce because he usually makes a mini-meal right before dinner for himself. However, that wasn’t the case.
He called my daughter into the kitchen to hold a ziplock bag while he dumped his cilantro into his marinade. But that wasn’t the only thing that caught my eye. The dishes were all washed and the sink was empty. When I say washed, I’m not talking about the dishwasher. The laundry was folded and ready to be dispersed to the rightful owners.
All I could think was, “Where is my husband and what did you do with him?” I didn’t see that coming . . .
Over the past few weeks, our household went from one working parent to two.
In the beginning, I felt overwhelmed about going to work full time. I love my husband, but sometimes he isn’t always a big cleaner/organizer.
So I figured once I started work full-time, our house would fall apart. But man oh man was I wrong.
Over the past few weeks, my husband has stepped up to the plate and proved me wrong in so many ways. He even does a better job than me. On his days off the beds are made, the dishes are washed, laundry is done, and dinner ready to go for me to cook. He’s picked up the dog poop in the yard and has played referee to our children. He even wakes up early so he can hit the gym before I have to leave to work.
So that made me realize I have no excuses. So on my days off, I handle the bathrooms, the recycling, the sweeping and mopping, and the kids’ rooms. I also have the job of checking in with our children and their school work. I do the grocery shopping and help him with his meal preps for work. We have literally split our household work, and I’m not even mad about it.
Our normal routine will be back, but I’m thankful to my husband.
In the coming weeks, I will slowly transition back to part-time and some of the chores will fall back into my court. However, I’m not mad about that either. It made me realize that if my husband, who works full-time, can make time to do all of that on his days off then so can I. But to be honest, being full-time was a nice break from our routine. It was nice to have a break from parenting, engage with other adults, and be someone that isn’t mom only.
No matter what is in store for us in the coming weeks, I am thankful for my husband and his help.
Originally published November 2020.
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