Homemaking/marriage lessons from the weekend

1) You know you've married well if you can trust your husband to go BJ's (or Sam's or Costco... whatever you got) with one (some) of your children while you stay home with the sick one. As long as your list is precise, of course. He will even use the coupons you cut out.... well, as long as there's no fine print explaining that you have to buy TWO of the item.

2) You know you've married EXTREMELY well if you can send said husband to BJ's with tampons and ladies underwear on the list. (Of course the note next to underwear MUST be very specific. Mine said: "Nothing skanky. Nothing granny").

3) You know you've married a SAINT when you can send your husband to the sporting goods store to buy your running shoes. (Again, with specifics, but still.... he did it!) Although.... since you and he both know those shoes are the link to your sanity and thereby his happiness, maybe Sainthood is not in order. But he's still pretty good.

On the other hand....

1) You know you're a pretty good spouse if you spend all day (while your spouse is running all over the place buying all the stuff on your list) getting 2/3 of the house clean.... especially when it hasn't been really really cleaned since, say, Christmas. (Little tip: if there's something on your kitchen counter that hasn't been moved in months, don't move it. You don't want to see what's back there. Seriously.)

2) You know you're a pretty good mom if you are home cleaning the very dirty house with your fairly needy, coughing 3-year-old and you manage to only let him watch about 1/2 hour of TV and get him "helping" you or playing with his toys or eating lunch or taking a nap the rest of the time.

3) You know you're a pretty good mom if you actually interrupt your cleaning rampage to play Thomas the Tank Engine board games even though you really really really want to just keep cleaning. (Okay, what you really really really REALLY want to do is lie down in your bed and watch crazy people on Bravo or read a book or drink chai tea.... but getting the house cleaned is pretty good.)

Finally...

1) You know you have it pretty good if your husband comes home with spinach artichoke dip, sparkling (YUMMY!) red wine, goodies from Starbucks and a new DVD to watch.

2) You know that it's "best day ever" status if all this happens and the kids go to bed at 7PM so you can enjoy all this almost like normal people might on a Saturday night!