1:31 PM - 
3 comments
3 comments
I'm a dictator
This was going to be like a "mom blog" - How to keep your house clean, organize your laundry, etc.
But there's already some amazing mom blogs out there. I know because I read them. I am not ashamed.
This blog is about something slightly different though. This blog is about the essence of true home management from the view point of a husband and a dad. My hope is to invite others with me along the journey from being a laissez faire style parent, a lazy husband, and a blame shifting leader to being a responsible adult who takes care of what has been given to him.
So really the point of this first post is just to introduce the blog and give some back story on how I got here.
I've always enjoyed organizing things, even if I was messy. But when I got married I thought it was supposed to be like having a live in maid... that I could have sex with. But after 3 years of marriage I have finally come to the realization that people have different personalities and that my personality is more suited to cooking, cleaning, and organizing the home... and the sex thing.
Not saying that my wife is a slob - she's actually the one writing this as I dictate to her from the kitchen... So I couldn't really say that at all... Not that I ever would. She's not a slob. Ok. Next subject.
Instead of being mad at my LOVELY (not a slob) wife for not being like me and my personality. I've decided to embrace my gifts and use them for the good of my household.
Over the next couple of weeks I hope you will join me as we bust through gender roles, clean counters, expound on the four temperaments, make grocery lists and family work out routines.
I'm not looking for much readership at this point, but as I build this blog it is my hope to inspire some of the other men of this world go on this journey with me. To devote the same energy of taking care of our families as we do our cars and trucks. To spend as much time organizing family meals and schedules as we do our fantasy football brackets. And much time playing with our kids (or wife) as we do with our iPhones.
I say this because I struggle with this as well. Except for the fantasy football. That's bogus.
Let us lead our families with the same excitement as we lead our black ops teams on xbox live.
3 comments:
You mean we didn't marry live-in maids? Is it too late for a refund after 8 years? ;-)
I think a good start is to talk to your wife and figure out three things: what jobs need to be done around the household (cooking, food-buying/couponing, dishes, trash hauling, bathroom cleaning, lawn mowing, laundry, etc., etc.), which jobs the husband is personally best suited to do, and which jobs the wife is personally best suited to do. We each have our own specialties, our own 'bents', and we need to put those to use in the running of a household.
No, guys, we did not marry a maid (or our mother), just as the ladies didn't marry a tyrant or an absentee workaholic. We signed up (or should have) for marriage to be in a partnership, where each partner brings their particular skills and abilities in furtherance of common goals.
Perhaps most importantly, those common goals will look different for each family. Do not let anyone, especially TV and movies, dictate your roles in the household. Too often men are portrayed in sitcoms and comedic movies as clumsy, boorish, misogynists ("Married With Children", I'm looking at you, disdainfully) more concerned with beer, ballgames, and boobs than with what goes on under their roof. Guys, if you're a good, or even passable, cook and your wife doesn't care to be in front of the stove, don't make her prepare dinner just because she "should". Same with laundry. Same with the dishes. Maybe she really likes to mow the lawn - let her!
The first step to managing a household well is communication. Tell each other your likes, your dislikes, and your dreams, and don't take society's standard as gospel.
I wish I had heard that 3 years ago man.
Man, that would be an excellent blog post on its on. Maybe you could guest post for me someday.
As a side note - I went to my brothers house last summer and was awed at his yard, which was cut perfectly in straight lines, all facing the same way. I was like, "Dude. Nice." Then he told me that his wife does it.
Post a Comment