Just one of those things #3: When the help is away...

Grateful as I am for having household help (I've complained about some nasty help habits here), it's when the help is unavailable that you can really see the measure of a man.

The help took the afternoon off yesterday leaving just myself and my husband to fend for ourselves.

Really, it's not as bad as I make it sound.

I spent the entire day doing my favourite job: laundry. And there was a lot of it. In fact, I'm still not done! I have to get my hands on some laundry soap, seriously.

Now, I'm the type who only likes doing about a maximum of three things at a time. I consider that hyper multi-tasking already.

So today, while doing the laundry, I was also organising personal documents and editing work contracts. It's not easy to shift between professional mode and career mode, believe me. But I credit being a writer and experience as an actor for my ability to easily switch modes.

Now, I hate doing the dishes and that's where my husband stepped in.

Our lunch was already prepared so that wasn't a problem at all but the dishes needed to be washed and I absolutely hate doing the dishes. It ranks a close third to cleaning the kitchen and cleaning the bathroom.

My husband cleared the table for me, put away the leftovers, and washed the dishes. And then he mopped up after the pets. He was also supposed to bathe one of the dogs but we deemed it too cold for a geriatric dog to be bathed. He fed the cats while I fed the dogs. He helped me hang up the laundry, as usual, when the line was too high for me to reach with my humble 5'1" or 5'2" frame. He even offered to mop up the kitchen after the dogs finished eating!

Oh and have I mentioned that he's been waking up extra early lately to help clean up after the dogs? Every day?

As a result, I was able to freely deal with these: a week's worth of clothes. I would have shot a wider angle but it would have been too much to post unmentionables now wouldn't it?

But I assure you, the twenty or thirty feet of clothesline was filled with freshly-washed clothes.

I will admit that he is not the most perfect housekeeping assistant. He can be impatient and he does find housework dull and tiresome but because I want our children to learn how to do all this for themselves, I've convinced him to learn to do the same. Daddy needs to be prepared to show the kids that he's man enough to hold a mop or broom if he must.

So this is my public "thank you" to my husband (yes, I've already thanked him in person as well) because he came through today for all of the chores that needed to be done and I couldn't do by myself. And for a guy, that, I think, is a lot considering guys aren't hard-wired for multi-tasking. But he did, he did.

And I am one happy and very proud wife to have been blessed with such a man.