A Handy Habit

            As a wife, I know that dinner takes longer than the most enjoyable part (eating).  Dinner preparation and the clean-up is also part of the meal!  I like washing and drying the dishes and putting them in their places, but I like preparing the meal more and enjoy far more eating the meal with my husband!  Here is how I found a handy habit to cut down on the mundane dish-washing task and to help make dinner time with my husband more enjoyable.

After I was married, I was visiting a friend of mine who was also married.  I asked about her dish-washing habits, to which she answered that she washed them as she goes.  The simple motive behind this, to not have such a big mess at the end of the day or at the end of the meal, was enough to get me to want to do the same!  I tried, and it was a little hard to adapt for myself, until I implemented my personal idea with it.  

My way I added is to actually fill the sink about a fourth or third full with hot water and a squirt of dish soap as soon as I come into the kitchen, before beginning any food preparation.  It makes the idea of having to wash one dish at a time after they are used easier, as the water is right there and ready.  I have done these “water in the sink” and “wash dishes as you do” ideas for several days now, and dinner has been much more enjoyable with my husband.  “Dishes” is not just something that is dragging in the back of my mind during dinner, making after-dinner thoughts drudgery.  I want to continue this habit! 

What Matters the Most ~ Guest Entry

When I was younger, there was a family friend that really inspired me to be a loving and devoted wife to the man I would someday marry. One of the things she did that made a deep impression on me was, every day, just before her husband was supposed to get home from work, she would put on a clean apron, fix her hair, and make sure that her little boys were clean and ready to greet their daddy. She treated him like a king, and he, in turn, loved her and treated her like a queen.

Now that I have a wonderful husband of my own I’ve been thinking a lot about how to show him love and honor, and it occurred to me that each husband is unique and values different things. While there are definitely some basic ways that show honor to every man, my husband, and every husband out there, has specific things that are meaningful to him, and other things that don’t really make much difference to him one way or the other.

I was visiting with one of my friends about this subject, and we both decided to specifically ask our husbands what mattered the most to them when they walked in the door from a long day at work.  Since then, I have asked a few other friends for some feedback on the same question, and these are some of the different ideas our husbands gave us: A clean and tidy house, a special kiss, just being there to greet him and welcome him home, and a tasty dinner coming up.

These are just a few ideas – the important thing, I think, is to find out what your husband values, and then do your best to give that to him lovingly and respectfully.