This One's Worth Reading

I stayed up late last night so I could read in it's entirety, The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Dr. Laura Schlessinger. I've read a few books I'd consider life altering. The first one being The Hidden Power of Kindness by Fr. Laurence G. Lovasik, which taught me how important is is to be NICE. Not just with words, but actions also. Go get it and read it if you haven't already. Another book, Life Giving Love by Kimberly Hahn. Bet some of you have read it, and if you haven't, you really should. You wouldn't believe how a former Protestant so completely embraces the Catholic Church's teachings on life and love. One more, Amazing Grace for Mothers which I read while I was recovering from Gabriel's birth. Thank goodness for inspiring stories to carry me though my fourth child's jaundice and his return trip to the hospital when he was 6 days old. But... back to last night's venture.

Dr. Laura's book is full of her no nonsense, no holding back, honest truth about how women take care of their men. She says society has led us to believe the male species is nonverbal, insensitive, ego minded, and are incapable of doing anything around the house. Well, she proves all that wrong. In a nutshell, she say if we take better care of our husbands, they'd walk through fire for us. After all, we want the knight in shining armour, and they want to be our heroes. This got me thinking.

I unfortunately did not have great role models growing up. And that's all I'm going to say about that. It has taken me the better part of 10 years to realize I cannot act like a child just to get my way. And treating my husband and kids with compassion and patience is God's way. Now, I know all this intellectually. Thanks to my upbringing, I've had to work really hard on undoing my upbringing because (I am ashamed to say this), it was pretty much ALL WRONG. I'm a lot better than I used to be, but there's always room for improvement.

I'll be the first to admit it... I don't give my husband enough credit. Sure, I joke and say I wish he was more "domesticated." But he's a genius when it comes to fixing anything broken, grows an amazing garden, is the first person my friends call when they need help with a home improvement project, and is the best father in the world. He never, ever complains, gripes, yells, or loses his temper. Seriously, thanks to his upbringing, I've learned there are no sympathy trees or pity parties on his side of the family. I am extremely grateful for that.

In her book, Dr. Laura says we need to put our husbands first, and take care of them so in turn, they will treat us like queens. Who wouldn't want that? Now that doesn't mean waiting on them hand and foot, but how about taking a couple of extra minutes to sit with him after the kids are in bed? And thanking him for taking out the garbage (even though you took it out every time for the last 2 weeks)? Maybe telling him to go ahead and give him Friday night to go play pool with the guys, or play a round of golf on Saturday? Men need a break too! We can't expect the world from them if we don't give them any means to conquer it! And lastly-- now don't laugh girls, they need more sex. There, I said it. Dr. Laura mentions we give all our time and energy to the kids, and the husbands just want some too at the end of a long hard day at work.

So, starting today (and wish me luck, because I know I have plenty of shortcomings), I'm going to say, "Thank you honey," more often. I'm going to cook my man a steak every once in a while, 'cause he's a carnivore. I'm not going to say a word about the suitcase in our bedroom, with clothes still in it from our vacation (even though it drives me crazy). And when the kids all run to the door to greet him when he comes home, well darn, I'm gonna be first in line. I should get a kiss and hug first, right? (Talk about beating back the mob!)

Well, if anyone else reads it, let me know. David says he's going to read it next ( and yes.... he initially bought it for me). I wonder if he'll like it as much as I did. My guess is he'll like it even more!