Barry Manilow claims that he writes the songs that make the whole world sing, but watching Mr. Husband watch me sway with a flourescent glow stick singing along with Mr. Manilow himself at the Las Vegas Hilton, makes me believe that I am married to the man that makes my world sing! You have to know Mr. Husband to really appreciate this gift to me. His version of the 70’s includes the Grateful Dead, Neil Young and the Allman Brothers. He made it through the late 70’s and early 80’s, the peak years of his adolescence without even the slightest nod to disco, let alone easy listening. There has never been a copa in his cabana, but I really wanted to go, and he took me! Not only that, he surprised me.
Now there are many lucky wives out there who would think, "of course your husband took you to a show you wanted to see. That’s what husbands do for their wives." But those women are probably not married to men who have been nicknamed "The Bachelor" by their girlfriends. It is a loving moniker for Mr. Husband but it does fit him. He totally rocks in so many ways, but the day-to-day family things are not his strong suit. He’s what I call a stepper-upper. He’s not much for picking up dirty dishes, closing cupboard drawers, being aware of which child has which test on what day, shovelling the driveway, noticing how noisy his 5:00 am morning routine is or listening to my end of the day recounts of the busy goings on of the household. But he has never failed to step up when he’s needed.
He carried Sir Talksalot back to the cottage with skates still on his feet when we had a bad parenting faux-pas one winter and let the poor kid skate on the lake without a helmet and lose an adult tooth. He’s taking Cupcake on a father-daughter pilgrimmage to the East Coast to check out universities next month. He slept on a mattress on the floor of a hospital for the week after I delivered the Gaffer when no one was sure which one of us was sicker. And along the same vein as looking forward to a root canal, he took me to see Barry Manilow.
I can’t wait to tell you even more about our trip, but it is 1:00 am Ontario time. I have to go back to work tomorrow morning after two glorious weeks of holiday and Mr. Husband has just come into the bedroom where I am quickly typing this in the dim I’m about to go to sleep light. He has turned on two lights, the radio loud enough for any passerby to catch the CBC show which has caught his interest, and begun to read the newspaper cover to cover. Bachelor behaviour? You bet, but occasionally…he writes the songs.
sounds like our husbands are cut from the same cloth. as you do, i try and focus on all the positives, because there really are so many of them.
LOL, Barry Manilow, LOL. I’m still giggling about that one 😉
Yeah, stepper-upper; I hear ya, my Hubster’s in the same vein. Is it possibly “a man thing”? I think a lot of men just were not socialized to be sensitive to others in their environment. I know when I point out to my hub that perhaps, this time, I or our kids should get priority, he’s always willing to do anything for us, he just doesn’t always think of it himself first, ya know?
That’s so great, Elizabeth! Sounds like a blast! It is so important to appreciate what those in our life have instead of what they lack…I love this post!
I love it! I’ve got one of those husbands too. He lives like a bachelor amidst the chaos that is life with three kids under 6, but when my man delivers, he really delivers! “Looks like we made it!”