I can't tell people about my husband.
Especially women.
Especially when it's a bunch of women venting their frustrations about their husbands.
I have to keep quiet.
See, I have a Keeper. And if I tell them about him, they get a bit jealous.
Apparently most men don't cook, or clean or help with the everyday tasks associated with parenting. Apparently most women feel like they have to do it all.
So if I pipe up and say, "my husband has cooked nearly every meal for the past six weeks, and not just using the barbecue"... well, it doesn't tend to go down that well.
I don't often tell people that the Big Fella helps the Little Big Fella do his homework if he's home after school.
I don't get to brag about the way he plans our meals and prepares them even if he'll be at work when we're eating.
I can't say that he hangs the washing out, vacuums, mops, cleans the bathroom and tidies the house without me asking.
But I often get to tell the Little Big Fella about how lucky he is to have such a wonderful Dad. I tell him about how well we're looked after and how lucky he is to be learning all kinds of things from his Dad. I let him know how much I love the Big Fella, and that I miss him when his shifts mean we don't see a lot of each other, because I know how important it is for kids to see true love in real life.
True love.
It turns out that it's not a magical moment of starry eyes and orchestral music. Not a feeling that makes you all gooey, or even just want to devour them. True love isn't like it appears in the movies.
I am definitely one of the luckiest women in the world because I got to observe true love in my parents, and I know the Big Fella observed it in his too.
True love is when you can say you're sorry.
True love is when you help each other in the daily, boring, repetitive, pointless tasks of life.
True love is choosing to stay when it would be easier or more exciting to leave.
True love is continually choosing to find ways to get through life together.
It's learning and growing together, discovering and resting together, playing and loving together, remembering to remember each other and trying to find little and big ways to show your appreciation of each other.
It's continually learning to understand how the other person thinks and feels, and putting in the effort to enjoy the things they enjoy, sometimes just because they enjoy it.
My husband is not a perfect man. There are things he does that drive me crazy sometimes. But they are so tiny and insignificant compared to the greatness of having him in my life! He is a Keeper and he is helping me teach our son what love can be.
What more can a girl ask for?
