It's January 15 and Ed just realized the other day that he's only worked one full day in nearly a month. First the automotive shutdown and then his company's letdown. After years of business travel to far-away places, for days (and sometimes weeks) at a time, this has been a treat. But you know what they say about too much of a good thing.
The Christmas break was two weeks of just pure laziness for all of us. A wonderful break from school, alarm clocks, homework, making lunches, schedules, travel, shopping, baking, etc. Then January arrived and I was ready to get back into my routine. Ready for all of us to go out and be productive again. This meant that people would leave the house and stay gone for at least seven hours while I do my thing. Being a stay-at-home mom for the last 15 years has made me feel like my home is my office. It's my job. When people are hanging around your office all day using (what you perceive to be) your computer, talking on the phone nonstop, and taking up your workspace, it starts to cramp your style.
Having your husband home because he's off work is one thing, but having him home because he's OUT of work is another. I'm really trying not to impose on him during the day while he's here, because I know he's got calls to make, interviews to go to, and e-mails to send. As a matter of fact, when Cameron was ready for a ride home last week after workout, he called Ed's cell phone to be picked up. I went and retrieved Cameron myself and asked him to please refrain from "calling dad" for a ride. I didn't want him to think that "dad was just sitting around with nothing to do" (even though he kind of was).
The first few days I really held off on asking him to help out around the house with the occasional errand, like putting away the outdoor Christmas decorations. I was treading lightly, because again, I didn't want him to feel like he was just sitting around with nothing better to do. However, now that more than a week has passed and we are well past the point of our "72 hours of job loss mourning" things are starting to look a little bit different to me.
Now that he's had time to complete that 1,000+ page book by reading it morning, noon, night, and now that he is awake enough to analyze the 11:00 p.m. news and wonder "how much time do they need to spend doing news stories on the weather, roads, school closings and what would they be talking about if it were summer?"--I'm starting to feel like he has nothing better to do!
Fortunately, I can tell that his spirits are up and he is feeling optimistic. That is a wonderful feeling and in this economy, I am grateful. So, I better take advantage of his presence around the house while I can because next month it could be me that's putting gas in my car and filling up the bird feeders in these frigid temps because I have nothing better to do. I doubt it, though. I ALWAYS have something better to do!
No comments:
Post a Comment