1950s Housewife - Days Ten and Eleven

Well - day ten came and went without incident. It was just one of those harmonious days that moves like liquid from thing to thing. I had a number of 21st century chores to do for the magazine, and then the kids had a half day at school, which allowed us to spend some quality time and run some important errands. Then it was off to after-school classes and cooking dinner, having the kids take out the trash, and then putting them to bed. I'm sure Dear Husband was in the mix there somewhere, but its hard to recall when a day runs so smoothly.

Oh yes, now I remember, Dear Husband had a hard time keeping his hands off the trash. It is typically his chore to do, and he jumped up when he heard me give the task to the children. I begged him to sit down and keep his hands off the trash, but he's really feeling useless during this experiment... his retort was, "1950s husbands took out the trash!" Since he insisted, what could I say? He was very helpful, and oh so handsome.

Today is Day Eleven, and doing all this work is becoming routine. I noted last night, however, that the extra chores have made my favorite chore my least favorite chore right now. When we married, we agreed on a sharing of work at dinner - The person who cooks shall not clean. Well, during this experiment, I do all the cooking, all the time, and I also clean. I used to love the relaxing zen nature of cleaning the kitchen after dinner, whilst my husband got the kids clean and put them to bed. It had a natural order... NOW, I'm cooking for an hour in the hot kitchen, serving everyone before sitting myself down, clearing the table and getting the dishes organized and soaking, running upstairs to dry bodies, brush and braid hair, read books and get the kids down, and then running back downstairs to wash the dishes... it is simply exhausting and is a block of tasks that SHOULD be shared.

Tonight, Dear Husband has told me he will be going to a movie with a friend, which is fine with me. It allows me to make a simple meal for the kids and enjoy left-overs myself and perhaps I can watch a girly show on the television...

- Mrs. P