Sunday, March 7, 2010

While He Was Away...

So Dan's been out of town, attending a family wedding in Tennessee since Thursday. While he was gone, my mom came to keep me company, and spoiled me by taking me to Costco & Target and all our usual faves. She went back home on Saturday, and then Beth came to spend the night. Now everyone's gone, and Dan's boarding a plane to head back, leaving me with a moment to reflect on our time apart. Here's what I came up with.

Things I liked about my husband being away:

1. I didn't make the bed, not even once. Here's the thing people, I don't care about whether or not my bed is made, I never actually have, but for some reason, it drives Dan crazy. He doesn't like to go to bed in a messy, disheveled array of sheets. I, on the other hand, could sleep on piles of laundry. I know some of you are grossing out, but it's true. So yep, I didn't feel the silent, disapproving pressure from the hub to make the bed..... Whew, freedom.

2. We ate Lean Cuisines, Del Taco, and string cheese, and I loved it. When Dan's around I feel this sort of wifely obligation to cook official meat-themed meals from time to time. He doesn't actually say, "Hey, cook me some dinner woman," but I know he appreciates it, so I make the effort. But while he was away.... Lattes and pretzels are the equivalent of the four food groups.

3. When the kids went to bed, I caught up on Oprah episodes and rented a really lame one-star chick flick on On Demand. Oh, yeah, bring on the cheese.

Things I didn't like about Dan being away:

EVERYTHING ELSE!

It turns out, I actually missed him. The house isn't the same without him, I don't like not having him to throw the kids in the air when he gets home (while I glare at him dissaprovingly because they're not being safe), I don't like that nobody is cheerfully singing opera in the kitchen while the rest of us grumps slurp up our cereal, and I especially don't like that there's no one to at least pretend to listen to my lengthy debrief of the day and the kids various successes and failures.

So as it turns out, the single life isn't for me, especially because I married the nicest, most good-natured guy ever. So if I ever go through some sort of tragic mid-life crisis and try to claim that I forfeited my youth and never got to "experience life" (aka go to clubs and get attention from drunk guys that will cheat on me) just remind me of this post, and the fact that making the bed every morning probably builds character.


4 comments:

Sara said...

sweet post. Larry travels for work and I feel the exact same way. Love not making dinner and letting a few things go but miss everything else. When we just had 1 or 2 kids, it was kind of fun to have a few nights on my own to indulge myself with chick tv, good books, and blogs but now with 4, the fun of it is pretty much sucked away! :) It takes a team to make the house run smoothly and happily!

AmyLeite said...

Okay, what was the chick flick you watched? I guess I'm in agreement with Dan about the bed thing but Uel would agree with you. I had a friend who would sleep in a kind of a nest of a bed whereas my bed was always neat when I was in it (she nicknamed me Ms. Bed!). :) Glad your man is on his way home and next time he leaves, call me - I love chick flicks! :)

Beth said...

...aawwww...

The Parsons' blog said...

I can so relate. Sean was just gone for 2 weeks and I didn't make dinner once - lovely. And I didn't make my bed once either, but that's because it stays nice and neat when the husband is gone. He's a bed thrasher I guess. :) And I also cut down on half the laundry. But those are probably the only positives I can come up with, too.