Tips to Look After Your Husband - Part 2

Yesterday, I started dissecting this little gem that I found on Facebook.  It's an article from a 1950 Home Economics Book about how women should take care of their husbands.  I think I do a pretty fantastic job of taking care of my husband, so I thought it would be fun to compare how I take care of my husband to the women of the 50's.  So, here we go with the second half of yesterday's post.

6.  Some Don'ts

I guess this is pretty standard.  I know that when I come home from work, the last thing I want to hear is problems or complaints.  What is customary, however, is us talking about the problems and complaints together.  He'll talk about stuff he's dealing with, I'll talk about stuff I'm dealing with.  When I'm tired of listening to his complaints, I'll tell him and he does the same to me.  

As far as coming home late for dinner?  Casey works in a job where he doesn't have set hours.  Sometimes he can be home around 5ish, other nights he doesn't get home until after 7.  Trying to figure out when to cook dinner gets a little tricky, but he does a good job of keeping me updated on his estimated arrival time.  I'll admit, there are some nights I get a little miffed at how late he's working.  While I won't complain about the fact that I know he's working to support us, and the extra hours means extra money, I don't like the nights he works late.  That's only because I like to spend some time with him.  It's the same for him when I have to work late because of meetings or family nights and stuff.  

7.  Make Him Comfortable

Oh, dear Lord, I hope he doesn't read this one.  Arrange his pillow and take off his shoes?  Bwahahaha!!  Sorry, honey, but that's not happening.  While I do want my husband to be comfortable when he gets home, he's perfectly capable of putting himself on the couch and taking his own shoes off.  The normal routine is he walks through the door, heads straight to the shower, and then I have his dinner plate and drink ready for him when he gets out.  We then relax on the couch TOGETHER.  I have a pretty low, soft, soothing and pleasant voice all the time, except when I'm mad, so he already gets that.  HA!! 

8.  Listen to Him

Yeah, I know this is a little hard to read, but it says:

"You may have things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time.  Let him talk first."

Thanks to the wonderful invention of text, we keep each other informed of stuff throughout the day.  If I have something to tell him when he gets home, I'm nice enough to wait until he walks through the door and puts his stuff down, but then it's GAME ON.  He's going to tell me stuff I need to know, and I'll do the same.   

9.  Make the Evening His

Poor women of the 50's.  I don't know how much strain and pressure they swallowed back then, but I know that I feel plenty of strain and pressure now.  While I don't ever complain if he doesn't take me out to dinner or other form of entertainment, his strain and pressure is no more important than mine.  While I may not do a whole lot during the day in the summer, I still deal with my share of strain and pressure.  I have to make sure the bills are paid, I have to make sure we have groceries to eat, I have to make sure food is prepared, and I have to make sure the kid is taken care of.  During the school year, you can multiply that pressure ten fold.  That's why we agree on a partnership.  One of the things I love the most about him is the fact that he makes sure I relax in the evenings just as much as he does.  We've both been busy all day, we both need some down time, and we both enjoy the evenings just relaxing with each other.

10.  And Lastly, The Goal

Last time I checked, I'm not running a monastery.  We have our ways of renewing our body and spirit, but that's not going to be discussed here (wink, wink).    I try to make my home a place of peace and order for both of us, because it's the one place I can relax and walk around in my pajamas.  If my husband wants our home to be peaceful, he will come home in a good mood, he will continue to treat me like a queen, and he will be appreciative of what I do for him.  Thankfully, I have all of that and then some, so he's safe.  

This whole list is pretty funny, and I feel for the women that had to live to these "rules" back then.  While I can see that I do a pretty darn good job of taking care of my husband, it's only because I want to.  Marriage is a partnership.  Some days, he has to carry the load and take care of me, and other days I have to take care of him.  Neither of us are more superior than the other, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  

For the next post, I'm going to share my list of Tips to Look After EACH OTHER.  Casey and I have definitely had our ups and downs, we are still kind of new at this whole marriage thing, but I think I've got some good ideas on how we've gotten to where we are, and how we make each other happy.

Tune back in next time!