When I’m not feeling well, I’m perfectly content with lying in bed all day. I also have no problem with my wife’s taking care of me or having the kids fetch me the remote. After all, my getting better is the most important thing. Right?
Obviously, my family disagrees. Instead of serving me a healing breakfast in bed, they taunt me by calling me a big baby. Every time my daughter sees me sleeping longer than normal, she says, “Oh no, Daddy has man-cold. I guess we won’t see him all week.” Hey, I’m only responding to my body’s telling me that it needs a break.
My wife, KayEm, on the other hand, refuses to be still when she’s sick. Many times, I have to physically carry her into the bedroom, place her in bed and tuck her in. If I could lock the door from the outside, I would. That would be the only way that I could keep her from escaping and washing a load of clothes.
The last time KayEm was sick, she reluctantly went to bed while I prepared the kids for bedtime. Forty-five minutes later, she came upstairs with a disapproving look on her face.
“Why aren’t the kids in bed yet?” She asked looking at the clock that displayed 8:35 p.m. I turned off the TV and put down my guitar to better defend myself.
“I told you I had everything under control,” I said. “Why are you up here?”
“I’m just checking to make sure everything is going okay,” she said.
“Everything’s fine,” I said as I escorted her back to the bedroom. “Now get some rest.”
The next day, we had an event to attend and I told KayEm that she should stay at home since she wasn’t feeling well. Of course she didn’t listen. She spent the next 4 hours in a room filled with rambunctious cub scouts with lassos.
KayEm ran herself ragged for the rest of the weekend and refused to take any time to decompress and get better. She continued to wash dishes, iron clothes, and pick up around the house even though I told her I would handle it. But she likes things done her way and it’s hard for me to convince her that my way works too.
I really do wish she would come down with a case of man-cold because she could use the rest.
Stay Strong,
Question: Has a similar scenario ever played out in your relationship?
Repost from Making it Last Forever (visit to read my wife’s perspective)
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