Happy Birthday

To the Wife, who turns 29 today…

She works hard so I don’t have to.

Ahem.

More seriously, we have a somewhat unusual arrangement, even for the 2010’s. She works full time and I monitor the kids full time, except when I’m on the computer typing. Carting the kids around, I can say pretty definitively that it’s an unusual arrangement. I’m not entirely sure either of us thought our lives would take the path it has, but we make it work. And yes, we work to make it work.

But she more than holds up her end of the bargain. Last night, for instance, on the turn-of-a-dime she ventured off to T-ball practice to help out because we had just received a call that one of the other coaches couldn’t make it. Meaning I would’ve been face-to-10-faces with hell. As luck would have it, the third coach made it after all. But still, there she was in the rain shagging grounders off a tee from 4 year olds after putting in a full days work.

To add to her burden, she’s something of a neat-nick; meaning no matter how much I try to help with house cleanup, it’s never enough. But she takes this difference in stride- accepting that my standards can never be up to hers. I pitch in with the laundry and the dishes and there’s the occasional site of me pushing a vacuum- but this hasn’t been documented so you’ll just have to take my word for it. I won’t even vouch for it being on… And yes, the house looks clean.

With the differences between her Mom-life versus the traditional Mom-life, it’s easy to miss the commonalities. She loves her kids- fiercely. She plays with them and scolds them and comforts them and clothes them and feeds them. She keeps them entertained with planned excursions to zoos and museums and Grandparents’ houses and the beach and the park. She keeps them moving by scouring the globe for activities hither and yon- T-ball, soccer, swimming, dancing. Not to mention the crafts and games and toys…

She never had pets growing up- but has happily adjusted to caretaker of 2 dogs, 2 birds, and a cat. She even tolerated a turtle for a day. She makes sure they are taken care of with trips to the vet in addition to walks for the dogs as well as cleaning and grooming and F-O-O-D.

Then there are her hobbies- photography, gardening and knitting. Somehow, in the course of managing all of the above, she still finds time to make socks, plant flowers with the kids and take some pictures.

Of course, through all these duties, there’s me. She deals with me and my eccentricities- vacillating between hope that I’ve turned some corner and horror that I’ve dreamt up another project. Living in close quarters with someone else is work- full-time work. While I won’t claim to be the most difficult guy to get along with, I provide challenges for her. And she’s been up to them for many years now. It’s nice to know that, given her high standards for everything else, I continue to meet them. I promise to continue to meet them.

So, Happy 29th Birthday my love- perhaps not the super-mom you had envisioned yourself becoming; but clearly a SuperMom, in a class all your own.

(BTW- it’s your turn to do laundry…)