Honey-Do

Well, now that the Superbowl is over, whatever are we going to do with all that extra time that we don’t need to spend in front of the television, keeping up with our favorite team? Yeah, I guess there are other sports we could watch; but, you know, there’s really more to life than keeping up with your favorite sports team.

I think it would do us good to step back for a moment and think about the price that our wives pay for us to be armchair quarterbacks. There are a lot of Sundays (and other days) when she has to take care of everything, from the kids to the paper boy, just because we’re addicted to watching a bunch of overgrown boys fight over a ball.

Now, I’m not saying that sports is bad, nor am I saying that watching it is bad; but, I will say this, many of us go to unhealthy extremes with it. When the game becomes more import than our kids, that’s bad. When it becomes more important than our wives, that’s really bad. When it becomes more important than God, we’re on the fast track to hell.

So, don’t give up watching, just put it in balance. Whether or not your favorite team wins this weekend really isn’t going to matter next year, let alone ten years from now. It’s a game, enjoy it, but don’t let it dominate your life or your home.

So, let’s go back to that original question, what are we going to do with that extra time? You know that there are lots of ways that we can choose to spend that time, now that we’re not keeping track of the NFL. We could go fishing, or take a nap, or maybe even take that time to do something for our wives. Wow, there’s a concept!

How many of us men dread the famous “Honey-Do List?” I know that I’ve dreaded it at times. When I look at it, it can seem to be overwhelming. Why, if I was to attempt to tackle that list some weekend, I’d never get any rest; and I’d never get through the list, either.

Why do women have to write those darn lists, anyway? How about this, they write them because they can’t do those things themselves. Your wife probably doesn’t know how to change the oil in the car, or fix the leaky faucet, or do something about the crack in the foundation. Even so, those things bother her; most of all, they bother her because she doesn’t know how serious they are.

When a woman’s home is in shambles, she feels like she is in shambles as well. You’ve got to remember, women identify much more with their homes than we do as guys. We tend to identify more with our jobs. Since she identifies with the home, when the home has problems, she feels like she does too.

Let me tell you a little secret about that honey-do list. She isn’t expecting for you to do it all in one weekend. She’s just expecting you to do it. If you pick on large or two small things to do every weekend, she’ll suddenly feel like you’re taking care of everything. It’s amazing how that works. One step in the right direction makes her feel like a million bucks.

Your wife needs a hero. She married you so that you could be that hero for her. When you take care of the things that need taking care of, she feels protected. But, when you ignore those things, she feels vulnerable. So, dealing with the honey-do list is actually an important part of helping her feel good about your marriage. Gosh, that almost sounds like being romantic.