As I sit here on my comfy couch (with no back cushions because of the dogs) listening to the wind howl at my windows I realize how lucky I am. My husband is in the other room holding my baby until he falls asleep. After he had a long day of work, he cooked me dinner, played with Holden, gave him a bath and is now putting him to sleep. Granted, I didn't exactly have an uneventful day but I do realize how lucky I am to have a husband like that. I know many aren't.

Even so, I still get cranky (we both do). Even though I know how good a job he does and tell him so we still both have our moments almost every day where we get cranky with each other. He bitches that I don't like to sweep up the pile of dirt after I sweep the floor (hard to bend over like that when preggo). And I bitch that there are always dishes in our sink no matter how many times I run the dishwasher during the day. Of course these are trifles, but I guess we don't have anything big to fight about at the moment. Although I do think that after awhile even the small stuff tends to get to you if you don't have a break.

I guess what I'm wondering is, aside from getting a housekeeper is how are chores divided at your house? I think in some ways it is all about how you grew up. My dad did most things at my house...well all things since he was a single parent, and Tony's mom did everything since she was a single parent. So we both grew up watching the opposite role do all the work. Thankfully we tend to fall into easy roles, except for a few minor exceptions: scrubbing the bathtub, taking out the trash, and occasionally the dishes. The only reason the dishes get thrown in there is because when men cook apparently they use EVERY SINGLE dish in the house. How this is possible I do not know. Perhaps all the professional great male cooks just have dishwashers (as in people) to do their dirty work for them so it doesn't matter how many dishes they dirty. In any case I dislike doing dishes after my wonderful husband uses the kitchen. Even with a brand new dishwasher it is still a major chore.

And then with the trash all I think is: It's a man's job to take out the trash. Don't ask me where I got this notion, I really have no idea. Maybe it's because I can't recall having to take out the trash at all until after I reached the age of 18. Maybe I did it, but I sure don't remember having to do so.

So anyway, after almost 4 years of marriage these are the chore sticking points that have remained. We usually trade off on the scrubbing the shower but when I'm pregnant I have a good excuse not to do it--the fumes and bending over like that. :) But that excuse can only last so long and I will be back to it again.

I can't complain too much because my two sweet boys are sleeping peacefully in the other room and I didn't have to do a thing. It's nice to have such a good husband.