my valentine

Last night I lay down on the couch, exhausted after a long day and several long nights.

A few minutes later, my husband came down stairs and started doing the dishes.

"Just leave them there and I will do them in the morning", I said

"We are a team," he replied

"Yes, but the kitchen is my thing and I will feel guilty laying here if you are doing dishes." After all, he gets up even earlier than I do and works all day.

"We are a team," he replied firmly, loading up the dishwasher and washing out the pans.

The truth is, my husband does the majority of the cleaning in this house. I pick up after the kids and do the occasional vacuuming, but he is the one who does the real cleaning. And the lawn mowing and snow blowing and garbage collecting and the fixing of broken things. He makes breakfast on Saturday morning and often dinner on Saturday night. Oh, and he is also the financial provider.

I do the majority of the cooking and the child care, the actual paying of the bills, the laundry, the shopping, the planning, the scheduling, the organizing of the house and the kid's activities.

Hum, how is it that my list is looking shorter than his?

But the bottom line is we are a team. I sleep in on Saturday, he sleeps in on Sunday. I put one girl to bed, he puts the other to bed. This is how our marriage works. This is how we survive a life filled with too many messes, not enough time, not enough sleep and two always beautiful but often infuriating little girls.

And while I cherish the memory of the romantic dinners, frequent trips and expensive presents that filled our pre kid days together, I can not imagine anything more perfect for me now than this life.