102/365

Today I realized that I have a near perfect marriage, for me.  I add that for me part because I am sure there are things that happen in this house that would not fly others and vice versa.  But I married the near perfect man for me. 

I realized this because Stacey was complaining, again, about her husband.  How he doesn't help around the house, how he doesn't play with the kids and in general doesn't do the things she needs.  None of that would fly for me.  If I expressed the need for something and he did not make an effort, we would be done.  I find myself thinking a lot when she is complaining, "I would just leave."

While Nate and I have had our problems, when I bring something up that I need him to do that he is not doing, he does his best to change his behavior.  He always helps me in any way I need.  We cook meals together. He takes the kids on dates so they can have quality time with him.  I don't feel like I am here just cooking, cleaning and raising kids (we have had that problem before, but it has been a long time.  And he made sure to rectify that situation, eventually).  We are in a partnership.  We do things together, we make decisions together.  There are things that I am better at that I take care of and things that he is better at that he takes care of.  All things may not be split evenly, but the way things are split works for us.

The thing that got to me the most is she said when he does something wrong he will try to make it up to her by taking them all out to dinner.  She hates that.  She NEEDS an apology.  She tells him that, but she never gets one.  He takes her out.  Then later this afternoon she called me and asked if I were to go out to eat tonight, where would I go.  I asked why and she said it was exactly what we were talking about today.  He was taking her out to dinner because he screwed up this weekend. 

It all made me so grateful that my husband knows what I need.  I need an apology.  And he gives them, freely.  If he wants to do something nice for me, he'll make dinner and clean up.  AFTER the apology.  He knows I don't need much, but he knows what makes me happy.  He does everything in his power to make me happy.  And I can not even put into words how happy I am that I have him.

Anyway, enough gushing about my amazing, wonderful, fabulous husband.  And I'll get to today's picture.  Kayleigh came home with a crap ton of stuff today.  All the stuff they've been working on all year, everything from her desk, stuff to work on over the summer.  The usual end of school year stuff.  But this was my favorite thing she brought home.  It was on the bulletin board outside her class.  When they were doing their ocean unit each kid had to pick a ocean animal to draw and write a poem about.  Kayleigh picked some deep sea creature.  He is HUGE! So I too a picture of the creature and the poem.

Deep Sea Animals  

By Kayleigh Meneses

Scary and mean

In the dark sea, plays hide and seek

Happy to be with my friends

She wanted me to hang it in the dining room, but I decided that we could take a picture of it to show her dad and then we needed to recycle it.  She understood.  But it was too cute not to share.