An Awesome Dinner by Gary

How many almost-2-year-olds get dinner like this?





Sunday morning I mentioned to Gary that I hadn't planned anything for dinner. He immediately said that he would handle it. See, when I think about making dinner, I think of meatloaf, casseroles, etc. Gary thinks of fresh fish. So, he consulted his recipe book and went off to Costco and the grocery store. While he was there, he even did our weekly shopping. Dinner was delicious!!! The kids agreed. . . .









This is all that was left:



Gary and I try to each pull our own weight around the house. I read once about someone who had a deal with their husband that neither of them sat down until they both sat down. I mentioned that to Gary, and we immediately implemented it. It works great for us, and we apply it to almost everything. We also split up weekend days into mornings and afternoons. One person is in charge -- the other person almost always is around to play with the kids and help, but it is nice to have one of us in charge so that the other can run errands, rest, etc. without guilt, prior scheduling, etc. Usually I take the mornings and Gary the afternoons.

On Sunday, it was my turn to take the afternoon (be in charge of snack, baths, etc.) because Gary had to take the mornings so that I could go to a photography class field trip. While we were having lunch (after the kids were down for their nap), Gary told me that he would do the baths because he likes spending that time with the kids! I was thrilled -- baths are pretty physical and my growing belly has been getting in the way with that. Gary also had already said he was making dinner, so he asked if I would mind putting it in the oven, etc. (it would already be ready to go in) while he did baths. I said I didn't mind at all.

While Gary was upstairs with the kids giving them their baths, I was downstairs thinking about what an easy weekend it had been and how EASY it had been on me. I took two nice naps over the weekend. Gary had cleaned a lot more than normal before I could even get to it. He also had done the baths when it was my turn. He had made dinner, when that is usually what I do (Gary is a wonderful cook, I just usually end up cooking because of our schedules). He had done laundry when I didn't even know he was doing laundry. He ran the dishwasher several times before I knew we even had a load. Then I started thinking about earlier this week when I would discover that I had fallen asleep on the couch and Gary would wake me up to go to bed, and he would have already taken care of our dinner dishes and put leftovers in the fridge. Now it's not unusual that Gary is doing all this -- but what unusual is that I did so little when he did so much because we try to keep things more even. . . .

And then it hit me -- I've been fired. This was not a fluke, this was a concerted effort by Gary.

I've really been doing great with this pregnancy. I'm not 100%, but I'm so much better than I was last time that I can hardly believe it. But I do get tired easier, and this week was a little harder on me than the past weeks. I remember Gary doing this exact thing when I was pregnant with the kids, and I just took it at face value because I needed it so badly. Much later I heard him telling someone that while I was pregnant he considered his job to be sure that he did everything around the house before I could get to it. Only then did I realize that it had all been planned. . . .

Gary never told me that at the time because he knew I wouldn't like it, but it was absolutely true and especially when I was pregnant with the kids, I needed to be sitting down and wanting to sit down. It's easier to do that when there is nothing to do. It looks like Gary has decided it's time for me and Penelope to rest a little more, and he's probably right, but it's something I never would have suggested myself. I hate that Gary is having to do more because I'm pregnant, but even though I think of it that way, I don't think that he does. He doesn't ask for praise, and he doesn't ask for recognition, but I know what is going on, and I deeply appreciate it. Thank you, Gary. You're a great husband and daddy.