Win today’s giveaway! Just tell us what you did (or are going to do!) for today’s Project by 5:00 PST on Tuesday and you will be entered into the drawing for today’s prize:
Friday’s winner? Ann
(E-mail my assistant kimber@kathilipp.com to get your goodie!)
And today’s giveaway?
Project #17
Playing Hooky
Give Your Guy the Night (or Morning) off
Your Project
Give your husband some time off. Hire someone to do his chores around the house (or do them yourself if money is tight). Just give him a chance to relax.
Men have a lot of responsibility in life. Not only is much of their identity wrapped up in providing for you and being the man you need him to be, he constantly has to prove to the world his worth as a man.
Guys desperately want some time to just be guys and enjoy themselves. How about giving your guy the night (or morning) off?
Whining and nagging get us nowhere. Being a counter-culture, Christ-following wife may not change our husband’s ability to see the crayon writing on the wall, but it will soften our hearts toward him.
On the Other Hand
Some husbands might take offense to having someone hired to do their chore. This could be especially true if your husband struggles at work, is unemployed, or in some other way feeling discouraged about his abilities.
If this is the case in your home, how about buying a tool to help him with his regular duty? A bag of chamois for cleaning his car, a rake to replace the one you bought when you first moved into your house are all ways to say, “I love you” without making him feel like you don’t think he’s holding up his end of the bargain.
Remember, this is all about your attitude. It should never be our intention to “prove our point.” The only point to prove is that we love our guy and want to show him our appreciation.
Prayer for Today
Dear God, I pray that my husband finds places of rest in his day. Let me contribute to that today.
Getting Creative
• Take his car to the carwash for him.
• Stock his ashtray with a Starbucks card to make his mornings a little brighter.
• Both my husband and I absolutely hate calling repairmen. However, if I make the arrangements, he’s more than happy to deal with the repairs once the guy gets here. It is a win-win for both of us when I call to schedule the repairs.
Project Report
“My husband is not really good at taking personal time but when the opportunity presented itself for him to go to a computer conference with his friends (just for fun, not work related) I actually encouraged him to go. He met up with some friends from college, took the day off work and left at 8:30am and didn’t get home until 11:00pm. He had a ball and I had to juggle both kids at a doctor’s appointment (getting shots nonetheless) without him. He was giddy when he got home and had fun eating out all day, catching up with friends and doing something that would have bored me to tears. He loved it and was totally re-energized.”
Laura
well lets put it this way…for 3 days i thought he was just at work, but then it sunk in… he is GONE…we promised eachother to never do that again!but it was something God allowed us to go thru…
hum…. hey Kim! How did you get him to leave for that length of time without you? My husband wouldn’t do that.
Some days just don’t turn out the way you have them planned in your mind. My husband did not go for that bike ride. He cleaned the gutters on the house, shop and my mother’s place instead. No, I did not offer to do that chore for him either. We did get away by ourselves which is rare. We had a long, heated discussion about parenting and blended families and then went shopping for a kitchen table. Isn’t that what you are to do after long, heated conversations? Shop! Then our evening felt less stressed. I will try again today to let him off the hook somehow.
I let him off the hook after dinner and he happily ran out to work on his “baby” – his 69 Camaro. 🙂
Wow! last week my husband left for a cruise for a week! the last time he took a vacation for a week was for our honeymoon almost 10 years! I encouraged him to go because he really needed to relax…3 days into the week i missed him, but when he came back we were both ready for eachother.we truly needed to play hookie from eachother and the life of busy-ness! playing hookie is good for you!
We probably won’t see each other today other than his waking me up this morning so I wouldn’t be late for an appt with my son. Sweeth, huh? He deserves help from me.
I hired someone to cut back the rose vine which runs the length of the side yard and has grown onto the roof. This way he won’t have to get stabbed by thorns or use a ladder since he doesn’t like heights. Later this week I will remove all the “flotsam” from the side yard to facilitate the pruning which will happen Sunday. Two things off his list should make him feel a bit more relaxed, especially since he was lamenting this weekend he has not time and all he does is work. This is sadly too true.
I’m really happy I chose to work on this project with you, Kathi. Thanks for your encouragement.
My husband took the day off of work today. He is thinking about a bike ride. I will encourage him to take the time and while he is gone I will get some of his chores done. Thanks for the reminder about what it is like for them in the world. blessings.
After dinner I will have him go play his computer game while I get the kitchen and kids cleaned up! Then I will get the kids ready for bed! He wont need to do a thing.
I wish I could give him a pass on going to work day. But instead he is getting a pass from anything and everything tonight. I’m sure I’ll have to remind him to just relax.