It's easy to take for granted a spouse's contributions until they aren't able to help around the house.
By
By TAMMY MALGESINI
Inside my Shoes
Published on December 8, 2015 11:27AM
After many years of marriage, sometimes you don’t recognize all the things your spouse does in contributing to the management of the household.
Well, I got a recent reminder as John was laid up after having foot surgery. Overall, he was a good patient, focusing on his recovery and staying down.
However, at times he’d feel bad that he was asking me to do too much and I’d catch him hobbling around. To further complicate matters, we have a split-level house, which isn’t very conducive to someone who is non-weight bearing with a surgically repaired foot.
A couple of times, I swear John’s dog, Lucifer, knew his papa shouldn’t be puttering around and would trot upstairs to get my attention.
I had to start anticipating what things John might do before I got a chance, like the night he told me we were low on toilet paper. I figured I could get some from downstairs in the morning — nope, too late. And then there was the time the garbage was “over-flowing.” From that point forward, I took the garbage out when it was three-quarters full.
One thing that posed a slight problem is that I’m not a morning person and John is. I like to wake up and melt into the morning. As soon as John would hear me stirring, he’d call out for assistance — usually with his morning cup of coffee.
Also, neither of us are big breakfast eaters. However, because John doesn’t do well with pain medication, I became a short-order breakfast cook. This enabled him to take his medication, which was a good thing because I don’t really like cleaning up barf.
Prior to this past month, I can’t remember the last time I made a cup of coffee for John. Also, I did more dishes in November than in the entire year and the multiple trips to Wal-Mart have resulted in Post Traumatic Shopping Disorder.
To summarize the experience, I’ve written this ditty (feel free to sing it to the tune of “The 12 Days of Christmas”):
On the long days of post-op
My husband asked of me:
12 Loads of dishes
11 Leftover foods
10 Check the mailbox
9 Jugs of water
8 Library books
7 Trips to Wal-Mart
6 Scoop the dog poop
5 Take-out meals
4 Bags of ice
3 Pancakes
2 Vicodins
And a big cup of black coffee.
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Tammy Malgesini is the community editor. Her column, Inside my Shoes, includes general musings about life. Contact her at tmalgesini@eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4539.
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