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Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Husbands & Wives & Married Lives OR Gorillas & Geese & How they Co-Exeest

Our oldest son turned 7 last week. This was the first year we held his birthday somewhere other than home (or a relative's house). He had a pirate-themed pool party at the Y. We were REALLY limited on how many people we could invite and so we opted to have a 'Family Only' pizza party later that night.
It was during his party that I realized something.

I'm sure this really comes as no shock to couples that have been married decades, but it really hit home to me during this party at the Y.


It started when we decided it was time for cake. I was going to be the one lighting the candle & presenting the cake, but first the kids needed to be rounded up & put in chairs. I asked Justin to help.

See the confused question mark?? It sounds like a simple request doesn't it? This is about the time I began coming to my above stated conclusion.

What he really heard out of me was this. I had to repeat my request a couple of times while he stood there looking at me like I was honestly just squawking and quacking at him. Finally it seemed to translate. Either that or the kids had heard me repeat the request enough that they finally went and sat down. ~ This may have been his agenda all along. I think I have just discovered something else.

I had to tell him that my mother wasn't going to magically appear and handle these things, that I needed him to step up. I got another ape-look from him.
I began trying to cut the cake and again asked him for help. I reminded him again that my mother wasn't going to magically appear. Same ape-look. He finally told me that "that's why the other ladies are here." ~ Yes, he really DID say that.
As if on cue, some of the other mothers came into the kitchen, one after another to help me. The first came in and I thanked her and griped about my husband's inability to realize that he should be helping. The second mother came in and immediately asked if anyone else's husband was driving them up the wall because hers sure was.
It was then that I totally got that expression about women being like a gaggle of geese. We worked together getting the cake and ice cream out to everyone all the while squawking about our husbands when we were in the kitchen.

We managed to make it through cake, ice cream, and presents and to the pool. It was there that I realized that most ALL marriages are comprised of a gorilla and a goose.
We were sitting around the pool, some of us in it with the kids and some sitting on the edge relaxing. One of the other mothers was watching her husband in the pool with their toddler. He was letting the boy stand alone in the water and she was worried that he would/could easily fall into the water and go under. She began calling to him to please hold onto the baby. That the baby was in the water and could fall. That the baby was too young to be standing alone like that. Her husband just looked back at her with a big, goofy grin on his face.
Being married to a gorilla myself and being able to view the situation (as opposed to being in it) I immediately realized what he was thinking.


He had told me earlier that his job was to keep the baby from drowning. I'm pretty sure all he heard from her, at least given his big grin, was that he was doing a good job keeping the baby from drowning.

It's all about Gorillas & Geese and How they Co-exeest. ~ Yes, I know it is a typo. I'm trying to rhyme so quit being a douche.

1 comment:

Carole and Chewy said...

You think a pool party was a true test of gorilliness? Try having the birthday party at a go-kart place. Not only will your 9 year old look more mature than her own parental gorilla, but the other gorilla dads will give your gorilla a run for his money. And all the gorillas will pout when your 9 year old daughter outraces them. Again and again. And as you're leaving, your gorilla will plead with you "AW COME ON- JUST ONE MORE TIME- I CAN TAKE HER!!!"