Husband of the Year

I had a horrible day on Monday. It was so bad that I was near tears most of that evening even though the day itself was basically over. I was just distraught and was having a hard time pulling myself out of my own head.

Tom listened to me vent when I got home. Then he listened again later that evening when other things occurred to me that I hadn’t said earlier.

The next morning, he told me he hoped I had a better day.

I muttered, “Probably not going to happen, it’s Tuesday, after all and Tuesdays are notoriously worse than Mondays for me.”

Poor guy didn’t know what to say after that, so he just kissed me goodbye.

Well, his wish came true, yesterday wasn’t nearly as horrible as Monday. When I got home, though, I braced myself before walking in the door. I mean, it’s what we do, right? We working parents? We get through the day at work and then brace ourselves for second shift, which starts the instant we get home?

I walked in and there were Tom and the girls, at the kitchen table, finishing up dinner.

He’d made dinner for them early so they could be done eating close to when I got home because that would mean I didn’t have to deal with figuring out what to cook, listening to fussy eaters, etc.

And because she’d had a math test yesterday, Olivia didn’t have any homework.

Tom suggested I go lay down for a while, that I could have my own dinner when I felt like it and it could just be a relaxing evening for me.

Well, since it was Tuesday, my dad had to show up for a ‘quick’ visit. I’ve tried to tell this man more times than I can count that week nights are BAD for us. They are too busy, too hectic, too short for him to ‘stop by.’ He doesn’t care. He’s retired, what does Tuesday mean to him? I greeted him at the door with a curt, “It’s Tuesday. How are you?” Then I told him that I had about ten minutes to talk to him because Olivia needed a bath. And it’s true, she does take a bath every Tuesday so it wasn’t just that I was trying to make a point that I figured he wouldn’t get. You can’t be subtle with my dad.

But! Even though that happened, most of the night was nice and calm and way better than the night before and it’s all because my husband listened to me the night before. He heard my stress and took steps to try and alleviate even a little of it.

It’s moments like this that make me glad I married that man.