My wife is a rockstar.
Now, before you say I am writing this to get in good favor with her, keep in mind she is barely on social media and it is unlikely she will even see this post at all (so there)!
But she is pretty awesome. She is a great mother, a wonderful doctor, loving wife, and a great friend. When you are married, life can be a blur. When you have 3 kids, life can be whatever is faster than a blur. A super blur? Uberblur? Ultrablur? Well, you get my drift. But I think for most of us, married or unmarried, life is really just series of moments and memories, some which make us smile with delight and others that bring a look of disgust to our face the minute it pops up in our brain or when we are experiencing it.
My wife started a new job recently, and her hours are much much MUCH better, so she is home a reasonable time for dinner, and let’s be honest, who wouldn’t want to be on time when you can come home to this…
(the crab legs are not made by me, but the facial expression is all me)
Better hours means she is a lot less tired in the evenings, so she can happily take over story time on occasion while I handle some other urgent task in the house like laundry, the dishes or a quick round of Super Smash Bros on my Nintendo Switch. Again, she rarely sees my articles so this our little secret….
Storytime is one of my favorite parts of the day 2 reasons.
One: I can do a variety of silly voices depending on the books my kids have selected (Paw Patrol or Disney are always a blast) and if you know me at all or follow me on Instagram, silly is my middle name (not legally, just for this article’s sake)
Two: Storytime means the daddy daycare is coming to a close and I can get 2-3 hours of kid-free bliss (I love them to pieces, but we all need some downtime right?)
Recently at story time, my wife took the reins, and as I loaded the washer in the kitchen, I could hear her and the kids down the hallway in their bedroom chatting away about what stories they wanted to read. I immediately heard them select one of their favorites called Lets Share! As you can imagine, it is a book that teaches the importance of sharing with a few ups and downs along the way. I love this book because I have a certain way of reading it, complete with very specific voices for each character, reactions, and flawless comedic timing that the kids love and that they anticipate every. Single. Time. I. Read. It. They fall over laughing every time with their legs in the air like the characters on Peppa Pig, so I love when they pick it.
But when they choose it for mommy, I immediately stopped loading the dishwasher so I could eavesdrop. How would she handle the voices, the emotions, and the perfect comedic timing that makes Let’s Share the amazing tale it is because of my outstanding interpretation of it? I sat quietly in the kitchen, waiting to be disappointed with her valiant attempt at reading this masterpiece, and readied myself subpar rendition.
Then something shocking happened. SHE NAILED THE READING.
It’s not that she did a brand new version. She did MY version. The voices, the reading style, the comedic timing, and everything! I was shocked because she is not a silly person by nature, so hearing her read it like me was a bit, well, shocking. Additionally, very rarely do we both handle story time together, so her reading it in this way meant something much more important to matin that moment.
It meant she was listening almost every time I read it. Not passive listening, but active listening, like she was taking notes on how the kids wanted this particular story to be read to them because she noticed how much they loved hearing me read it to them.
Maybe it was the raucous laughter that made her perk up one night, so she listened extra carefully to see what all the hubbub was about.
Maybe the kids just told her how to read it.
Whatever the reason, I was so proud of her in that moment because it meant that even in those moments where she was barely able to stand up because she was so tired from work, she still observed what was going on with me and the kids, even if she didn’t have to. It meant she was being a rockstar mom and wife when she could have just as easily been sleeping. I am proud of her almost all the time, except that time she came home and told me that she had told her co-workers I was rooting for the Pats in most recent Super Bowl.
I mean, do you even know me woman?
But, in spite of that slip up, her reading of “Let’s Share” just added more fuel to the fire for reasons I love her in the first place.
I say all this because moments are really all we have during our limited time on this earth. That moment hearing her flawless rendition of Let’s Share will stay in my heart and mind forever. I hope I can create a lot more moments and memories with my family in years to come so, even if my kids might not be able to give me a play-by-play of their days at school, moments like story time will stick with them forever.
So, go out and create as many moments you can, while you can and make a wonderful memory you won’t forget. Within reason on course…
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Originally published on Cool Minivan Dad and is republished on Medium.
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