It Was Worth It In The End!

My husband is amazing.  He really is so supportive and helpful.  It's just that there are moments etched in our married life that he forgets he is not my fifth child!  I blog today with love and appreciation for my husband and the hope that when he reads this he can get a good chuckle, rather than a maddening irritation for his loving wife!

So, last night I was supposed to meet some friends out for dinner.  I purposely scheduled it for later so that I could do dinner with the family and help get the bedtime routine started before departing.  My husband had a great idea, though, that he would take the kids swimming.  He offered to have me go to a workout class while he tended to the children and assured me that he'd be fine doing dinner a little later on his own.

He was supposed to come home early to help get everyone ready, but work was a little more than he bargained for and so his arrival time was not going to be before 4:30.  This was no problem because I had an errand to run with the children (I needed to buy my daughter's birthday present for TODAY ... she is only two so I knew I could sneak buying it even though she was there) and we would be home in time to have a snack and prepare for the pool/workout adventure.

Well, my husband pulled up right when we did.  I told him we would need a few minutes to unload from the day and get settled.  A dear friend had called at that moment and I just wanted to visit for a few minutes before we started the hog-wild adventure of trying to pack for four kids to go swimming (not to mention unloading the crab that had accumulated in our van since 2:45pm). 

My husband was ready to go apparently because he instructed the children to get their suits on so we could go.  Mind you, it's been winter for about 10 months and their snow suits are more accessible than their swim suits.  I quickly ended my conversation with my friend, knowing that my children would create more of a disaster trying to 'find' their suits than if I just helped them. 

My hubby then instructed the oldest to get the swim bag ready.  Are you kidding?  Again, the swim bag has about 1,000 things it, of which 998 of the things were not needed for this pool visit.  She wouldn't know how to unpack and repack with the necessary items.  So again, in order to create less of a disaster, I helped.  Then the almost two-year-old (today is her birthday ... Happy Birthday my sweet two-year-old!) was ready to get her suit on.  She is still in need of a swim diaper, but anyone who has used swim diapers knows that the only thing they really hold is poop (and we've learned on several occasions that they don't even hold that!).

So, I reminded my husband that she would need a swim diaper.  "No problem, just keep her clothes on."  He said this with a smile, not worrying about a care in the world or having any idea why I was fuming.  My irritation growing by the second.  "SHE WANTS TO WEAR HER SUIT."  I wasn't very nice, I know.  But when a little lady like ours sees everyone else has on their swim suits, the chance of her not wearing one is slim to none!

Then I checked on the clothes.  He assured me he told the kids to put their clothes over their suits and bring him their underwear so they could change after swimming.  "Did they bring you clean underwear?"  Again, I was probably not the most friendliest.  It's the little things that husbands forget.  If they are going to shower after swimming, it kind of defeats the purpose if they put their dirty underwear back on.  He then asked, "Do we have shampoo in the bag?"  Seriously, the bag was less than a foot from him ... LOOK IN THE DAMN BAG!

After getting clean underwear from all the kids, packing the swim bag and the dry-clothes bag, my husband was ready to go.  BUT ... I wasn't.  We were all going to go so I could help get the kids in the pool, then I was going to go work out.  UGH.  My husband laughed and tried to tell a joke to get me to smile; mocking me for being so upset about something so minor.  UGH again.

We then had a ten-minute conversation about the locker rooms and who would go where.  We then packed a separate bag for the two girls so they could go in the 'Women's' locker room and he could take the two-year-old and older boy with him.  SO COMPLICATED!  I wanted to just throw the towel in and say screw my workout!  It's so much easier just to do it yourself than to explain everything you normally do!  I have to admit, I was being quite childish! 

I sent them off to pool.  I would just meet them there.  I was going to have to drive separate anyway because I was going to dinner with my friends.  My irritation was beyond what I can explain.  Why?  I don't know exactly.  Maybe because he was ready to go and I wasn't.  Maybe because he can handle the kids being helpers and I can't.  Maybe he just wanted to go have fun with his kids.  Maybe I was over-reacting a little.

Of course, in order to reaffirm that I was not crazy, I called that dear friend back that I had a brief conversation with earlier.  I just had to vent.  She reminded me that I have an amazing husband who more often than not does NOT act like my fifth child:)

You will never guess how this all ended ... I got a call a several minutes later as I was about to depart ... the pool had to CLOSE!  Yep, a little lady did her business in the pool (not mine, thank the good Lord) and so the pool wouldn't be open for the rest of the day. 

My husband rolled with the punches like he always does!  He took the kids to park, encouraged me to go work-out and to have a great night at dinner with my friends.  Looks like my crabbiness didn't get to him- he loved me anyway. 

So, in the end ... I had a great workout and an amazing dinner with friends.  They didn't mind that I was stinky and had messy hair.  It was a wonderful night.  Totally worth it in the end.  If only I would have tried to enjoy the process a little more in the meantime.  Thanks, hubby of mine, for not letting me spoil your fun night with the kids!  I'm darn lucky to have you even though I don't appreciate you like I should!