Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Breaking News! Sexy!

There is nothing sexier than watching my husband...
do dishes.

You so know it's true! And well, watching as husband washes the dishes, while I put away the food, our youngest loads, and our eldest heads out to fill my gas tank... it's a Kodak moment! (Not one of their recent company moments though 'cause that Chapter 11 business is just sad as we grew up together.)
Strike over. Sorta. Tonight our youngest son pulled out a paper plate on which he had written a contract to put an end to the strike. With a few additions of my own, like 15 or so that include taking out the garbage and recycling without being asked, being spoken to by pleasant people in the morning, feeding and watering and letting out the dogs...not complaining when Mom's singing and if possible, letting Mom hug her children once a day- I'm happy to report 4 out of 5 have signed.

It's gonna get interesting now...
Know that I respect my child's autonomy. I respect my child's right to pretend he's already a practicing litigator. I also respect that on some level he's been a little hurt in all this. From his Middle School perspective, I was willing to go on strike from taking care of my family. He's processing what may have felt like a sort of abandonment or that I jumped ship. Admittedly sad and hurting from this refusal to sign, I hope that one day he'll understand and see that this wasn't just about me. I did this for our family too. I truly believe that he will be a better roommate, a better life mate and a better parent himself one day...
In the meantime he's gonna be smirking while eating a whole lot of mac and cheese with frozen peas and nitrate turkey/ham. And that's okay. He's standing his ground. And honestly, for this and a million reasons more, I couldn't love him more than I do right now as my heart would explode.

We're heading downstairs to watch Modern Family in a few minutes like the rest of America. The kids say I remind them of one of the Moms and it's not Sofia Vergara. It's all good. And well though a school night and not a fan of television on school nights in general, I believe a family that laughs together and does dishes together and learns together and signs contracts- almost all together, stays together...
Did I mention how sexy my husband looks when he rinses out the dishcloth instead of leaving it in a clump in the sink?!

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