Love in the Spin Cycle

She Said....

Sometimes my husband drives me crazy. Today I am wearing a shirt he "washed". It stinks! My guess is that he left it in the washing machine for 2 or 3 days, then went back but didn’t care that it smelled like butt and put it in the dyer anyway. Today, I have tried my best to dodge close talking co-workers and leaned against the train car doors so I wouldn't offend anyone with the stench of my shirt. It's not the first time I've gone to work with stinky shirts or (ladies feel my pain) pants. I know he means well.

In the beginning of our relationship I was very attentive and I played Suzie Homemaker (SH). My apartment was always clean when he came over to visit or spend the weekend. After he moved in, I'd like to think that I kept the SH going but Suzie died a horrible death once we got married. Once we moved to New Jersey, we both drew a line in the sand as to what chores we would and would not do. He didn't do bathrooms and I hated washing dishes (we were both traumatized by our parents as children). I hated doing laundry, period. If he was paying attention, he would've noticed that I shopped a lot and barely wore the same clothes more than once. So at first we would trek to the Laundromat, once a week. Then it was more like once a month. In our new town house we have a washer and dyer in the basement. This should've been perfect for me, but I hate going down there by myself. It really freaks me out.

No matter how tired my husband is he will take a load or two down stairs while he writes a 20 page paper or is studying for grad school. Where am I??? Well most of the time I am on the couch watching TV. Sometimes I ask him, "babe do you need help?" as he struggles down the steps with both hands filled with clothes. Sometimes I even roll my eyes when the laundry comes back and a shirt that I really love is now an extra small instead of an extra large. And yes, I even give him advice on how to read labels before he starts the laundry.

But before you start calling me all sorts of names hear me out. I never said I was perfect or that I wasn't lazy. I can get my lazy on like the rest of 'em. I do take my marriage very seriously and I do not for a minute take my husband for granted. I know of two other wives who don’t do laundry either. If he was sick, I would brave those steps and do the laundry. He's cleaned the bathroom for me when I've been sick.

The men and women in our Marriage Group (more on that in a later post) know how far I've come with helping around the house. I know that I have a good man that does right by me and is very domesticated. I just don't like smelling like mildew ass at work! But I guess that's love in the spin cycle.