Walking in Each Other's Shoes

By Eva Wallace

wife-cleaningWhen I was a stay-at-home-mom I was the one who worked so hard to keep the house neat, only to find my husbands clothes on the floor and his dirty dishes left out an hour later. It seamed like he didn’t even think twice about it.

And he was notorious for losing his keys. Of course he wouldn’t realize they were missing until he was ready to walk out the door, and then he’d rip the house apart looking for them exclaiming, “I don’t have time to put it all away now – I’m late! I’ll do it when I get back.” Sure.

I would leave things where they lay sometimes and bug him to put them away when he got home from work, only to have him tell me, “I’ll do it tomorrow, Honey, I’m so tired.”

My husband was injured on the job several years ago and now he works from home, and I have a job outside of our home. It has taken a few years to settle comfortably into our new roles in the house, but the transformation has been amazing. We each see what the other had to put up with for so many years.

Now he keeps the dishes washed and the laundry done and makes me coffee to take to work in the morning. And I pick up my clothes and take my dishes to the sink, and I try not to be too tired to help a little when I get home. :)

Posted March 13, 2008, filed in Just for Fun

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8 Comments

From Jon King, March 14 2008

On occasion, we take turns with what we call a "solo night". That is, one of us will take off and just go do something by ourself like hang out at a book store, go test drive a car, dink around at a sporting goods store or go canoeing. Then the other is left to managing the kids on their own. Which does a great job of keeping us both aware of the work loads and what is involved.

Jon King's last blog post..Square Foot Placebo

From Eva Wallace, March 14 2008

That's a good idea, Jon!

From John Trosko, March 14 2008

Sounds like you have yourself a success story, but it was years in the making.

It's always amazing to me how two people, who live under the same roof, can still think so independently of each other. It takes a little bit of time each day to work on your relationship, and that much (or less) to pick up after yourself.

When I was a teenager, my mother worked, and I cooked family dinners and cleaned up the kitchen for several years. I developed an appreciation of her time!

- John

John Trosko's last blog post..Exclusive Celebrity Scrapbook Interview with Barb Hernandez Carrillo

From Eva Wallace, March 14 2008

21 years in the making! And it's better than ever. :)

Cooking dinner and cleaning the kitchen as a teenager - I'm impressed. I think I'm too soft on my kids!

Thanks, John!

From Marcia Francois, March 15 2008

LOL

Eva, I agree with you - put those kids to work :)

From Louise, March 15 2008

We try to switch jobs in our RV every once in while, just to make sure we can both do everything. It definitely makes me appreciate the stuff Sean does! I'll happily dust and mop so I don't have to clean the litterbox…

Louise's last blog post..Cuckoo for Cocopah

From Carmen, March 18 2008

So true, Eva, so true. It's amazing how "walking in another's shoes" puts perspective on things. I have been married less than a year, but already I have a much greater appreciation for what my mom has done for over 3 decades. Keeping house is hard work! :)
Carmen's last blog post..Get Organized: A Kick In The Butt

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