Accentuate the Positive

So my main man is out of town. And I am glad he is. No, that doesn't sound right. I am not glad he is gone. I am glad he wants to spend some time with his mom before the surgery. I have always felt like how a man treats his mom is directly related to how a man treats his wife. At the same time, I miss him when he isn't here. For one thing, my interaction with adults is greatly reduced. Plus, I don't have my "Go 2 Guy" to pass the baton to for both parenthood and household duties. So in that regard, I could bellyache about the fact that he isn't here. But instead I am going to accentuate the positive.

Here are a few reasons I can live with my main man being gone...

• I can let the sink overflow as much as I want. Mark is a bit of a fanatic about our sink. He wants it empty and clean all of the time. Unfortunately for him, he has had to let go of that a little bit because when we eat at home, we fill up the dishwasher very quickly. And if we entertain or cook for anyone else, we may get three loads easily in a day's time. So sometimes the sink has to be overflowing while another load is washing. Okay, so it kind of bothers me too, so I will not likely let it overflow, but I could if I wanted to...
• I can listen to my i-Touch all around the house. Typically on the weekends, the boys (that would be Mark and Hunter) like to channel surf, especially in search of sports. So if I am working in the kitchen (which I was today), I can't really listen to my i-Touch because it gets drowned out by sports announcers and cheers/boos. Today I just turned on the "shuffle" and listened away.
• Easier to keep up with kids' consequences. Mark and I agree on how we handle the kids and misbehavior. But lots of times, only one of us is present when a consequence is doled out to the offender. And we may forget to mention to the other one, "Oh, by the way, this child is not allowed to play in the toy room for three days." Thankfully, most of the times, the loving siblings are very happy to remind me. But with only one parent here to dole out the consequences, it is MUCH easier to keep up with them. Provided I remember them. :)
• The pressure is off with meals. Okay, my husband never makes a big deal about meals. If I say, "Let's go out," more often than not, we do. If I say, "It is on your own night", then we just eat whatever we have. But I do try to cook more often than not (depends on the week), and sometimes that man can be challenging. I will think we will have chicken for dinner only to find out he had it for lunch. So no pressure. The kids will eat most of what I make. Tonight, we had pancakes and bacon. Tomorrow...who knows. I will decide then. :)
• I have control of the t.v. I could go on and on about that but let's be honest. It speaks for itself.
• The two big kids are better helpers when Dad is gone. He always gives them a "pep talk" reminding them to step up to the plate to help me out. Today they did just that. Lauren helped me make pancakes. Hunter read a book to Joshua. Now, we will see if it lasts beyond tomorrow.
• It is a GREAT excuse if I don't want to do something. I have not really used it this weekend, but just in case someone asked me to do something I really didn't want to do, I can always say, "Um, I am so sorry...I am on my own with the kids right now..."
• I tend to be a bit more productive when my man is gone. I know, it is pathetic. I don't sleep as well when he is gone, so I am more likely to be up. And if I am up/awake, then I might as well do something like inventory the kitchen. (Partway done already :)
• I may actually talk to Mark (at least without interruption) when he is out of town more than when he is home. Okay, probably not, but it feels like it. We have texted a few dozen times today (or a dozen anyway), and then he called once the kids were in bed. We weren't distracted by the busyness of life. We just took time to share about our day. Maybe he should go away more often. Maybe not.
• I don't have to shave my legs. He doesn't complain, but since I think nothing of propping my legs on him when I am lounging, I do it out of consideration. I don't have to for a few days. Of course, I will anyway, because I don't like the feeling of not shaving.
• I have more to blog about. :)

Well, as usual, I am staying up later than I should. So I better conclude this list. Hopefully, I accomplished my goal...accentuating the positive. (Love ya, dear!)

Reba