Insert Juggling or Balancing Metaphor Here

Saw this on One Good Thing.

I'm an excellent husband!

100 As a 1930s husband, I am Very Superior Take the test!

But I really need to work on my wifin' skills...

54 As a 1930s wife, I am Average Take the test!

Mostly what we've been thinking about over here at our house lately is what anniemcq called "the joke of trying to balance everything well." Somewhere along the way, Mrs. Rodius picked up one hell of a work ethic. She'll work herself right into the ground if she feels it's necessary. It's not for nothing that I like to call her the World's Most Capable Woman.

Right now she's working through a difficult and stressful transition at work, a transition into more work and more responsibility. Consequently, she's at work more, for which she feels horribly guilty. So the time that she is home, she spends it working to make up for the fact that she's away more. She cooks, she cleans. She does laundry. She bathes the baby, and feeds him, and puts him to bed. Sometimes I feel like we're in competition, each trying to get to the chores before the other.

If I was a better husband, I'd be working as hard at home as she does at work just so there would be nothing left for her to do when she got home but put her feet up and decompress while the baby attempts to scale her. But I'm not really built that way. I mean, I keep up with the basics. I unload and load the dishwasher. I do laundry. I wash and fold diapers every couple of days. I vacuum every couple of weeks. I clean the bathrooms. I cook for leftovers. Oh yeah, and I take care of a baby.

But dusting? Not so much. Cleaning windows and baseboards? Uh, no. And paying the bills, that's hers. We tried it a few years ago where I was in charge of the money, and uh, I bounced a few checks. I'm sure I could be better at it now, having learned from my mistakes, but I don't think I'll ever get the chance again. She kind of has a thing about finances and security. And aside from changing the cat litter, I've sort of opted out of feline maintenance, though I will clean up a pile of puke here and there. Maybe a third of the total cat puke volume. Maybe less. But I do maintain the cars, so at least there's that. But I like a little fun with my work. I enjoy having downtime after the baby's gone to bed.

So that's where we are. That's our balancing joke: I'm trying to do more without losing my mind, and she's already losing her mind, so she's trying to do less. Doesn't seem very fair, does it?