While the cat’s away…
I’m a mom and a wife. I do motherly and wifely things like: cook, clean and feed the animals. Basically, like a lot of women out there, a large portion of my time is spent making sure that my household runs smoothly. And while all of my daily tasks are important to the overall well being of my family unit, I’m not the only one in the world that can do those everyday jobs. It’s not like I have the secret recipe for making macaroni and cheese. And I don’t think any extraordinary training is needed to work the washing machine.
So. Once in a while I leave for a few days. When I do this I feel confident that my husband is perfectly capable of taking care of things while I’m away. Before I go I usually make sure the house is well stocked with groceries, but that’s pretty much all I do. I guess I’m lucky because I recently discovered that many of my girlfriends leave entire instruction manuals for their significant others any time they plan on being gone longer than twelve hours.
You see on Sunday I picked up Carrie for our three-day trip to San Francisco. She looked slightly stressed when she plopped onto my passenger seat. I asked her what was wrong and she told me she was worried she may have forgotten something important. For a second I thought she meant something important like her curling iron, but it turns out she was worried that she’d left some crucial instruction out of the Bible she wrote for her husband before she left town. Seems the girl had to list even the tiniest of details for her man—everything from what outfits to dress their daughter in to what time to feed the dogs. She said if she hadn’t written down those things her kid would go to school naked and her dogs would starve. I have my doubts about all of that happening, but I kept my opinion to myself.
I found the contrast in our preparations interesting. So tell me, what do you do before you go away? Do you stockpile the refrigerator with casseroles? Do you fill a notebook with detailed instructions for the person who’s coming to water your fica tree? Or are you like me and just walk out the door?
I’d love it if you told me. For some reason I really want to know.
June 7th, 2007 at 9:19 am
June 7th, 2007 at 11:07 am
June 7th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
I hide all the toilet paper and paper towels and then I put out lots of cat food, take out the garbage and drive away. No one takes care of the house while I’m gone LOL
June 7th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
Well you know Cookie and I are pretty much connected at the hip. But when we do leave each other its usually the other way around. I think he thinks if he doesnt remind me where the food is, where the medicine is in case I have a headache-I will just stay at the computer and wilt away. lol
He is a caretaker by nature. And I am spoiled
June 7th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Leave?
What is this…leave?
June 7th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
Rachel, you’re not spoiled, just well taken care of.
Amie, you and Emma have serious cat issues.
And Shelli?
June 7th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
Eva! I’m so with you–it’s not often I get to leave!
Feist…I have three. One’s a shredder, one’s a hellraiser and the other one just hides a lot.
June 7th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Well, I hardly ever get to leave so I feel Eva’s pain. When I do leave, my mom usually has to come help cos hubby is working so - I leave her instructions just so she knows the routine. Hubby knows what’s going on so if it’s just him, I can leave him without instructions.
But my children always end up dressed funny.
He’s not the best when it comes to picking out clothes for them. Oh well…
June 7th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
I’m so lucky I don’t have children.
However, when we do get around to having them, I’m quite sure my husband can handle it. He gets upset when I leave him any type of “honey-do” list or note, as he’s (thankfully) self-sufficient, so I guess he’ll have no choice but to handle it.
June 7th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
I take little breaks every now and then. No ‘honey-do’lists for my husband. He’s a grown-up. He can take of himself, which is not that different from every day. I don’t do much doting in the wife-homemaker department! We do things for each other and there’s no man’s work/woman’s work split.
June 8th, 2007 at 11:41 am
For Mr. Robin, I make sure the refrigerator/freezer is stocked with enough food to cover most of his meals — he can find his way to Burrito King or Subway for the rest. I make sure all the dishes are done, because God knows he won’t do them while I’m gone. I make sure he’s got plenty of clean clothes, too, because he’s never, not even once in his adult life, run the washing machine. And — this is the biggie — I park the kids at MIL’s if I’m going to be gone for more than one night. I want a fun vacation for me to equal a fun vacation for them, too, and unlike Dad
, Grandma will make sure the kids have plenty of fun.