Relaxation

I think we could all use a little advice from our husbands sometimes. Yes. You read that right. Now I realize that I may be stereotyping here (which is usually always a mistake) but I do this lightly and with some humour so I can simply get my point across.

Generally speaking, men know how to relax so much better than us women. I'll give you an example. Yesterday I took my daughter out around 9am and returned around 2pm. Knowing that my husband had the day off and that there was not too much he had to do but relax and watch some sports programs that had been PDR'd, I (incorrectly) assumed that the very few dishes in the sink would naturally be washed; that the very few jackets and miscellaneous clothes lying around would have returned to their appropriate places; and that the cereal box, dish, and spoon from his breakfast in the living room (which occurred hours prior) would have somehow found their way to the dishwasher to eventually be washed by the time I returned home.

However, upon returning (and you can imagine where I am going with this) I found that actually none of this had been done. Now in all honesty, this should not have surprised me one bit since this had played out similarly before. But in my mind, I had been taking care of our child and assumed that this "housework" should have been done in my absence, Instead, it turned out that my husband was truly taking this time off to relax.

This is an interesting situation. The guy works very hard all week and more often than not, he also works a day on the weekend. He really doesn't get much down time at all, so I cannot really blame him one bit for not wanting to take on any one of these tasks. BUT, if that were me (given the same amount of time to "relax"), the house would have looked very different. In addition to the above mentioned chores being completed, the laundry would likely have been at least started, dinner plans would be in progress, and perhaps the fridge cleaned out. But who is the smart one here? Not me. It's my husband.

I also work very hard all week, and (like all mothers) if you include "mothering"into the mix, we don't ever get time off. And if there is a period of time where we are not "working" or "mothering" we are likely found doing one of a hundred other chores. I am writing this not so that we can all jointly agree that we are overworked and that we should feel sorry for ourselves, but rather as a reminder that when we feel the need for a true break, that it is ok to take one.

I feel the frustrations of a messy house, of laundry piling up, of responsibilities to be taken care of, but I also think that we can take a lesson from our men, and simply learn to relax when we need to. What good are we to anyone if we are burnt out and overwhelmed from simply having too much to do?  Maybe our idea of "relaxation"is to simply read a book or magazine, get out for a run, or call a friend. The point here is that sometimes we need to do what might seem lazy or irresponsible. Sometimes, we just need to recharge the batteries.

So thank you honey for your reminder yesterday that a clean house isn't as important as a well rested mind and body :) I'm leaving for a run right now.