My wife got a summons to jury duty last month, and today was the day that she first reported to the court house. Now, I knew that this was coming for a month, so I had plenty of time to prepare for the solo act. I had hot dogs, fish sticks, and macaroni and cheese out the wazoo. What else would a dad taking care of five kids need while mom’s away? It should be simple, right? I mean I’ve taken care of all of them before. What could be so hard about doing it for the better part of a week?
The day started out all right. I kissed my wife good-bye, and started on breakfast for the kids. It shouldn’t have been that difficult, I was making fried egg sandwiches for four of them, and cinnamon toast for the other. After breakfast, I left the kids to wash up and play while I did the breakfast dishes. It took about five or ten minutes to load the dishwasher and get it going, and I planned on doing some light housework to try to bless and surprise my wife when she got home from jury duty. I was going to start in the living room, when I saw one of the twins traipsing around naked. (The twins are trying their best to get potty trained). I had her dressed already, but hey, when a girl has gotta go then a girl has gotta go. I took her to the bathroom and sat with her while she tried. After a few minutes, I got her dressed again and went to go get started on cleaning the living room.
I hadn’t even picked up three toys before I had to negotiate a peace settlement between my six year old and four year old because they were fighting over the same book. After sitting them down to talk for a few minutes about kindness and sharing, I left them to read together as I headed back to the living room to continue tidying.
When I got there, the twins had gotten out even more toys than I had already put away. The room was messier than when I had started. In addition, there was a familiar (albeit unwelcome) smell wafting around in the room. So now, I had to change the other twin’s diaper.
It was at this point that I began to come to the realization that although I had been working all morning, I hadn’t really made any progress in the apartment. The twins were back to their proper clean diapered state, the breakfast dishes had been soiled and then cleaned, the living room was messier than when the day had started, and the kids were going to start getting hungry again soon.
By the time my wife got home that afternoon, I felt like I had been running on a treadmill without going anywhere. I told my wife that I didn’t know how she did it. How can she get through a full day, every day, and keep the apartment as clean as she does? She even home schools the kids, and there was NO WAY that was happening while she was gone. She chuckled, and put her arms around me and kissed me and said, “Welcome to my world.”
If she doesn’t get called for a case then there’s only two days left. I think I can make it. . .I think I can make it. . .I think I can. . .
But dads, if you’re coming home wondering why dinner isn’t done, or the house isn’t as clean as you’d like it, I’d suggest to you that you have not spent enough time doing your wife’s job.