This is an interesting week, and a complete reversal of sorts.
Next week, I’m on the road, as I have been in the past during my career, and she’s managed on her own to take care of the home, then one kid, then two kids, and working, etc. Before I head to the airport, I generally verify that the house isn’t on fire, kiss the family goodbye and good luck, and see you in a couple of days. God bless my wife, because she’s always survived somehow. I remember one time I was heading out to Montreal in 2005, and we had just moved into our house a few days earlier. She calls me while I’m waiting at the Newark airport gate, and tells me all the power is out in the house. It’s been hours, Josh’s infant formula would be going bad, etc. What could I do at that point for her? I mean it, my wife has done her bit for king and country on her own while I’ve been working.
Now for the reversal: My wife is off on a business trip (her first ever) this week, and I am the one home with the kids! It was a last-second change in plans, and my wife was off to bring home the bacon. I’m surviving so far, and it hasn’t been that bad. Of course, my wife did more than verify the house wasn’t on fire before she left. She made the baby food (and labelled and told me the schedule), she filed our 2008 federal & state taxes, did the kids’ laundry, and a slew of things to make my life easier while she was gone.
You know what this means? Before I head out next Sunday, I gotta….. geez, how do I even get to her level? I’ve already gotten a new appreciation for my wife. I don’t even know how to show it to her. This is gonna be a thinker.