The UnDomestication of a Woman

I'm not entirely sure when it happened. It was a little here and a little there, over a period of time. Some of it can be traced back to when I got ill, some of it when I got pregnant, and the rest? No idea.

The first chore I lost was laundry. This happened shortly after we were married. I've done my own laundry before. Except for sheets and towels, everything else just went into the same load, color or not, delicate or denim. It was a laundry orgy. So early on in our marriage I did the laundry. Those of you who have ever lived with my husband know that he has a particular way of doing things, and convincing him that other methods exist is exhausting. So, to his dismay, I threw all the clothes in together and added the powdered detergent and used cold water as I always did. I'd never used powdered detergent before. It really likes warm water. Unfortunately, I didn't notice this until our clothes came out of the dryer and were crunchy. Needless to say, that was the last time I did the laundry in this house.

Then there's the cooking. That can be traced back to when I became ill. After working all day, my brain would have the consistency of Jell-O that had been left out in the sun all day long. Reading a recipe, assembling ingredients and following directions became a Herculean feat of concentration. It became where I would pick out an easy meal and Jeff and I would work on it together so that I didn't become a puddle of despair on the kitchen floor. Then as I got better, I started cooking again. Enter the first trimester. I couldn't stand the smell, texture or sound of food. Once again Jeff took over kitchen duty. Lately it's a mix of simple meals and Jeff assisting me. I've found out over time, that he makes a great sous chef.

The house keeping in general has also been on a downward slide. Jeff isn't particularly fussy about dust, so that doesn't get done a whole lot. But again, mostly due to the pregnancy, he does all the vacuuming now and any cleaning that warrants any chemical thing stronger than a Clorox wipe. His, stipulations, not mine. I DO care about the cleanliness of our house. I just think I got burned out on it a few weeks ago when I was nesting. I cried because our curtains were dusty. Who does that?

And finally the grocery shopping. We go grocery shopping like a couple of frat boys now. Mostly up and down the cookie, soda and frozen food aisles. I used to spend an hour creating a meticulous grocery list and meal plan for the whole week. The whole week, people! I used to do my grocery lists in a word document and organize the items according to the aisles in our local Safeway. Not anymore. We're lucky if I've jotted a few things down on the list stuck to the side of our fridge. Now we wander around the store and pick up a dozen items that we need and hopefully some one remembers to get more of whatever it is that I'm craving this week.

So, there you have it ladies and gentlemen. You now know my deep, dark secret. I am a stay at home wife who actually does... nothing. Well, at least for a few more weeks...