This morning it was my turn to drive our son to school. At 8:15 a.m., I had him take himself and his backpack into my car. His backpack was packed up with his books, his supplies, his lunch, his snack, and his water. I didn’t do any of that. It was all my wife.
When we got to school, I looked back at him and realized that he did not have his jacket. I forgot to make sure that he was wearing his jacket. It’s really damn cold out, and that was incredibly irresponsible of me. If my wife drove him to school, he would have had his jacket.
When I got out of the shower this morning, I noticed that my wife had taken all of the sheets off our bed and was putting new sheets on. She was taking the used sheets and putting them in the laundry. If I’m going to be totally honest with you, I would likely wait until the sheets walked off on their own disgusting free will before I even thought of changing them. My wife does this, from what I understand, once or twice a week.
Our puppy came up to me wagging her tail and licking my face this morning as I got ready to bring my son to school and go to my office. Our puppy was already fed and walked.
I didn’t do any of that
My wife works from her home office, taking calls, answering emails, and being a rock star at her job. She often is still answering emails, taking calls, and being a rock star at her job before, during, and after dinner while my son and I play video games downstairs.
When I go into my car every morning, things have been straightened out and freshly cleaned masks have replaced the used and dirty masks in my console. I didn’t ask her to do any of that.
The other night, a whole bunch of groceries were bought and put into our refrigerator and cabinets. I had nothing to do with purchase, placement, and distribution of said groceries.
My wife doesn’t make me watch "The Bachelor" with her anymore
And every night (and I mean EVERY night), my wife makes sure that our 9-year-old son has his final snack, brushes his teeth, and is tucked in tightly to bed. She then lies in bed with him and talks with him about various topics, including – but not exclusive to – friends, hobbies, summer camp, school, thoughts, dreams, politics, vacation ideas, and ways to get Dad to be more responsible. She does not leave him until he has fallen asleep. In fact, sometimes I have to go into his room and wake her up so I can soak in all her glory and have her to myself.
We lie in bed, and my wife insists that we spend a few minutes not looking at our phones and not watching television. She insists that we connect as humans and talk. About life. About finances. About politics. About our son. About the main characters of 1,000 Pound Sisters. About gossip. About whatever. Anything. Just to connect.
At moments like that it occurs to me that she isn't a badass because she’s a woman
This isn’t an “all women are better than men” kind of article. In fact, I’ve watched enough episodes of Cops in my life to see that there are many women out there (and even more men) who are quite ridiculously just terrible.
No, my wife is a badass because she thinks of the little things that make us live our life without question.
She is a badass because she does this all without the credit that she deserves.
She is a badass because if I had to do what she did, I’d want someone to build a national monument in my name.
So I just want to take this moment to acknowledge…
Lara Beth, you can now quote your husband …
After a year of quarantining together, I've realized my wife is a complete and total badass.
