advertisement
-
Emily Parnell
on Jun 16 2013 - 06:00 AM
Eating fresh, local produce is good for body and soul
- read more
Jim Cosgrove
on Jun 13 2013 - 06:00 AM
I just want to buy some pants. Please, turn down the music.
- read more
-
I noticed it last Tuesday, two days before Thanksgiving, as I swore I just needed a couple of things from two markets and then took home a trunk load of bags. Anyway, let’s not go there.
The important thing is what I discovered in these said stores. Men. Basically husbands. And they were everywhere. They had invaded my Target. (Yes, I get a little possessive when I talk about one of the two stores where I spend all our money.)
I can understand the Costco sightings. Men love that store. But Target, in the food section? Every woman I saw had a man shopping next to her.
One stood by his wife at the freezer of hams. He searched the tags, trying to get the best deal for the most amount of meat. He explained to her why they should get a bigger one — it ended up being cheaper by the pound — and they could make ham salad with the leftovers. (I eavesdropped on the advice and grabbed a big one, too.)
Another husband shopped alongside his wife in the soda aisle, loading two-liter bottles into the cart. (Nevermind that he dropped a cherry soda one and red liquid splattered everywhere. He was helping!)
And then there was my favorite. A man with two kids following him walked toward his wife. He’d gone to grab her something from another aisle.
In a bit of a panic, she told him they were out of the fish sticks their kids like. “Oh no,” he said in a bit of a gasp, clearly making fun. “Not the fish sticks!”
Every year I just assume the holidays are a solo flight for me. Most of the Thanksgiving and nearly all of Christmas. To be fair, husband does so much every other day of the year that I understand his hesitancy about the holidays.
The shopping — husband always seems to be just as surprised as the boys when they open up what Santa brought.
Most of the cooking. Husband does help there, but always offers to do more. But somehow things crop up. The oil needs changed in the car. Gotta restack the wood pile outside. Clean out the junk drawer. I swear he grins when he offers each excuse - I mean chore - up.
I always seem to complain. Sometimes I think I’m just thinking it, but no, my mouth is saying the words.
“You know, this isn’t easy. … Wouldn’t hurt to have a little help. … Who knew Mrs. Claus did all the darn work?”
Well, I’m beginning to think other women are in my same sled. (Corny, I know, but I just had to throw it in…) That must be why I saw all the men, being helpful, picking out food, walking down every aisle and giving advice on what to serve. I swear I’ve never seen so many men before.
And guess what? Other than that one trip, where I popped in on my way home from work, husband has been right beside me, too. He’s gone out Christmas shopping with me four or five times, including getting up at 4:30 a.m. Black Friday and working down my lists.
For Thanksgiving, he not only helped cook everything, but he helped plan. “I thought we could brine the turkey this year,” he said one night a week ago. I was so caught on the word “we” that I almost missed the word brine all together. Then I quickly realized what he said and that I’d already planned to do that after reading an article in The Star. Didn’t occur to me to go over it with him, because I had no clue “we” were cooking the dinner.
Let’s just say I’ve been thrilled for days. Here’s a guy who always helps around the house, from preparing dinner and doing the intensive cleaning and clearing out closets. It’s just holidays have never been his thing. He likes to enjoy them, not “do” them.
But he claims my subtle hints have soaked in.
“I just want harmony,” he told me the other night, smiling. And indeed, that’s what we have. All the shopping’s done. Guests declared it was the best turkey ever.
Did I mention our Christmas shopping is done? And husband went out with me for four hours the morning of Black Friday. Oh yeah, the holidays are good this year!
You, dear woman, are a braggart! Your shopping is done! We don't wanna hear that! :) Having the hubbs help is fun, adult bonding time. If you do it right it can even be sexy. wink wink. (why don't men get that?)Glad he's figured it out.Good for him! Must be something in the water. My husband helped clean for Thanksgiving and went shopping with me Friday.And it was fun!I love that you wrote about this. I am on a quest to notice the good things my husband does, and this helps. I started thinking back and realized mine did a lot over the holiday this weekend. Don't think you'll catch us out on Black Friday anytime soon, but we did shop on Saturday and had fun. It helps to get the kids old enough to stay home alone during the day a bit.Lucky girl, you are! I like the phrase, "chore up". My spouse cooked the turkey & made some of the side dishes & then watched football. I've done all of the shopping, but it has mostly been online. Online is a lot easier.I wish my hubby would help a little more at holidays. I think he is surprised sometimes by the gifts that everyone opens, since I'm the main person buying and wrapping the gifts. He even laments every year that lights on the house would be nice, but I have my certain outdoor decorations, and if he wants lights, he'll need to step up to the plate to do those!I know who made it to the nice list this year! I see those couples, too, love to watch them. My favorites are the ones where Mr is pushing and entertaining the kids in a separate cart while Mrs has the cart of actual, non-junk food purchases and no distractions while she reads labels.I have been noticing lots of men in the store with the woman they love. This is how I see it, because men usually hang out in the electronic section or mens clothing section. But to see a man long side his woman shopping, says very loud that he loves his woman, and he's proud to be with her. If I was going to argue the fact that many of these men may appear to be husbands, but in all actuality, their just dating. Maybe it will trigger something in them to see real married couples, and they too may become married couples
June 2013 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Tagsmoms (38)
teens (34)
tweens (27)
toddlers (22)
school (18)
kids (17)
christmas (14)
boys (12)
parenting (10)
toddler (10)
mom (9)
parents (9)
family (8)
friends (8)
birthdays (6)
children (6)
discipline (6)
money (6)
teenagers (6)
economy (5)
facebook (5)
girls (5)
kindergarten (5)
mom moments (5)
shopping (5)
stress (5)
video games (5)
anxiety (4)
diet (4)
fashion (4)
holidays (4)
husbands (4)
santa (4)
sons (4)
sports (4)
talking (4)
teachers (4)
apple (3)
babies and toddlers (3)
books (3)
chores (3)
coupons (3)
crazy (3)
dad (3)
dads (3)
divorce (3)
driving (3)
exercise (3)
flirting (3)
football (3)
ipad (3)
junior high (3)
lessons (3)
marriage (3)
michael phelps (3)
obama (3)
peer pressure (3)
preschool (3)
sex (3)
sleep (3)
steve jobs (3)
tantrums (3)
worry (3)
brad pitt (2)
bragging (2)
church (2)
class (2)
conferences (2)
craigslist (2)
dancing (2)
death (2)
dogs (2)
embarrassing (2)
emergency room (2)
family time (2)
fat (2)
fighting (2)
finances (2)
fits (2)
fitting in (2)
food (2)
google (2)
guardians (2)
guilt (2)
haircuts (2)
high school (2)
homework (2)
husband (2)
internet (2)
joplin (2)
karma (2)
license (2)
losing weight (2)
manners (2)
mccain (2)
mean (2)
men (2)
olympics (2)
phobias (2)
pictures (2)
presents (2)
questions (2)
saving money (2)
scary (2)
spelling bee (2)
stubborn (2)
style (2)
summer (2)
teacher (2)
teen (2)
toys (2)
tv (2)
vanity (2)
weight loss (2)
wii (2)
wills (2)
writing (2)
(1)
16 (1)
40th (1)
911 (1)
accents (1)
acne (1)
activities (1)
add (1)
addiction (1)
advice (1)
affection (1)
afraid (1)
airplanes (1)
alcohol (1)
allow (1)
anger (1)
apologizing (1)
appreciation (1)
arguments (1)
art (1)
autism (1)
babies (1)
babysitter (1)
babysitting (1)
back to school (1)
backsnacks (1)
bad cop (1)
bad luck (1)
bad mom moments (1)
band (1)
bathroom (1)
beer (1)
belief (1)
belongings (1)
birth (1)
birthday (1)
blogging (1)
body image (1)
bones (1)
bosses (1)
bottoms (1)
bribery (1)
broken bones (1)
brothers (1)
budget (1)
butts (1)
cameras (1)
candy (1)
car keys (1)
carnies (1)
carnivals (1)
cartoons (1)
cheap (1)
cheating (1)
chemistry (1)
childhood hunger (1)
christmas cards (1)
christmas spirit (1)
chubby (1)
cleaning (1)
cleavage (1)
clinton (1)
clothes (1)
clutter (1)
cnn (1)
coaches (1)
cold turkey (1)
comic books (1)
commercialism (1)
commitments (1)
communication (1)
competitive (1)
computers (1)
conference (1)
consoling (1)
cooking (1)
coupon policies (1)
creativity (1)
criticism (1)
crutches (1)
curiosity (1)
custody (1)
dances (1)
date night (1)
daughters (1)
deals (1)
decorations (1)
demi moore (1)
dentists (1)
development (1)
diet coke (1)
dinner (1)
dinner table (1)
dinosaurs (1)
discounts (1)
diseases (1)
drama (1)
dreams (1)
dresses (1)
drinking (1)
dying (1)
eating out (1)
education (1)
election (1)
embarrassing moments (1)
emotional (1)
examples (1)
exhausted (1)
failure (1)
fathers (1)
fear (1)
first day (1)
first day of school (1)
first words (1)
fitness (1)
flu (1)
focus (1)
food costs (1)
forgetfulness (1)
frankenweenie (1)
frugal (1)
frustration (1)
fun (1)
funny (1)
games (1)
garden (1)
gardening (1)
gary lezak (1)
gas prices (1)
gifts (1)
girl (1)
girlfriends (1)
good cop (1)
goth (1)
grades (1)
grammar (1)
grandmas (1)
grandparents (1)
graphic novel (1)
grateful (1)
gray hair (1)
groceries (1)
guys (1)
hair (1)
hair dye (1)
haircut (1)
hairstyle (1)
halloween (1)
hanging out (1)
happiness (1)
healthy (1)
helicopter moms (1)
helmets (1)
heroes (1)
history (1)
hobbies (1)
holiday cards (1)
homecoming (1)
hoodies (1)
hooters (1)
hospice (1)
household chores (1)
how to (1)
hugs (1)
humiliation (1)
humor (1)
hungry (1)
ice (1)
imaginary friends (1)
imagination (1)
immunizations (1)
indiana (1)
indulge (1)
interests (1)
joe biden (1)
journey (1)
junk food (1)
kansas city (1)
kavya shivashankar (1)
kenny rogers (1)
kindness (1)
kisses (1)
labor (1)
late (1)
layoffs (1)
lazy (1)
learning (1)
lena (1)
library (1)
lindsey vonn (1)
long hair (1)
losing (1)
loss (1)
lost (1)
love (1)
love you (1)
mail (1)
makeover (1)
markers (1)
math (1)
matt lauer (1)
memories (1)
messy rooms (1)
michelle obama (1)
mistake (1)
mom guilt (1)
mom2mom (1)
moments (1)
mommy and daddy time (1)
morning (1)
mother-in-law (1)
mothers (1)
motivation (1)
mourning (1)
movies (1)
music (1)
nagging (1)
naked (1)
names (1)
neighbors (1)
neil diamond (1)
neurotic (1)
new year (1)
news (1)
nice (1)
night light (1)
night out (1)
nightmares (1)
no (1)
occupations (1)
old (1)
old-fashioned (1)
opinions (1)
outsmarted (1)
overprotective (1)
ozarks (1)
parade (1)
paranoid (1)
parent involvement (1)
parent involvment (1)
parent-teacher conference (1)
parties (1)
passing gas (1)
passion (1)
peeing (1)
peers (1)
pets (1)
photo (1)
photos (1)
please (1)
polite (1)
politeness (1)
politics (1)
potty (1)
pre teen (1)
preschooler (1)
president (1)
presidents (1)
principals (1)
procrastinating (1)
prom (1)
pto (1)
puberty (1)
punishment (1)
quitting (1)
raise (1)
reading (1)
regrets (1)
relationships (1)
remove tag (1)
resolutions (1)
respect (1)
responsibility (1)
road trip (1)
rude (1)
running (1)
running off (1)
ryan lochte (1)
santa claus (1)
sarah palin (1)
saving (1)
savings (1)
school clothes (1)
school dances (1)
scooby (1)
security blanket (1)
self confidence (1)
self help (1)
self-improvement (1)
sensitive (1)
sexting (1)
shooting (1)
short shorts (1)
shy (1)
sibling rivalry (1)
sick (1)
single mom (1)
single moms (1)
skiing (1)
smiling (1)
smurfberries (1)
smurfs-village (1)
snow (1)
socializing (1)
southwest missouri (1)
speech (1)
spirit (1)
spoiling (1)
sportmanship (1)
spying (1)
status (1)
stinky (1)
stitches (1)
strangers (1)
studying (1)
success (1)
sugar (1)
surveys (1)
susan boyle (1)
swearing (1)
swimming (1)
swimsuit (1)
tact (1)
talent (1)
talkers (1)
tantrum (1)
tardy (1)
target (1)
teaching moments (1)
teen driving (1)
teenage boys (1)
television (1)
temper (1)
terminal (1)
tests (1)
texting (1)
texts (1)
thank-you notes (1)
the great depression (1)
the today show (1)
therapy (1)
thighs (1)
thin girls (1)
tim russert (1)
tornado (1)
tornadoes (1)
tragedies (1)
training (1)
traveling (1)
trayvon martin (1)
trips (1)
trouble (1)
ugly (1)
vacation (1)
vacations (1)
vaccines (1)
video (1)
violence (1)
volunteeing (1)
volunteering (1)
walt disney world (1)
weather (1)
wedding rings (1)
weekends (1)
weight (1)
weight gain (1)
weight watchers (1)
winning (1)
wives (1)
women (1)
words (1)
working (1)
working mom (1)
workplace (1)
worlds of fun (1)
wrestling (1)
x-mas (1)
yelling (1)
yo gabba gabba (1)
younger guy (1)
zuckerberg (1)