Men, Women, and Father's Day.

Since I've started this blog, I've tried to post something at least once a week. It's kind of a goal I've set for myself. It gets me thinking and pondering, and hopefully coming up with an amusing or funny story I'd like to share in the process. Eventually, I hope to get better at it, but I hope you all stick around while I'm trying to get there.

Today the thought that is floating around in my brain has to do with men and women and their differences in the way they do things, as well as Father's Day coming up Sunday. So maybe I can shove these two thoughts together. Let me see........Father's Day.......differences between men and women.......I've got it! 

As all the faithful readers know, mom has had some health problems for the past few years. This last episode leaving her pretty much down for the past two months, and probably 3 to 4 more coming up before she gets back to where she needs to be physically. In the mean time, dad has had to step in and take over the household chores. I fill in where I can, but they are both so independent, dad would rather work at his job all day, and work in the house all night than have me do stuff for them. So, I do what they'll let me do. 

Now, that being said, let me give you a little history on dad; 

I remember as I was growing up, dad would come home for lunch every day. He got a full hour, but it would take him roughly 10 minutes to get home, followed by 10 minutes back after lunch. It would still leave us time to eat, and then watch a partial episode of the Andy Griffith show together. I loved this schedule! Mom would have a big meal cooked, because dad loved to eat. Still does, really. But she was the stay at home mom, so the house would be clean and picked up, a big lunch fixed, and part of the time there would be pies or a cake or cookies or something good in the oven that morning for dessert the rest of the day. And it would be home made. Because, according to daddy, if it's not home made......it's not any good. If for some reason mom wasn't able to have a big lunch, or supper, and was running late, she would just put cold cuts and cheese on the table for "fix your own" sandwiches. Dad didn't like that. He felt as though if he had to have a sandwich, at the very least it should be assembled for him. True story. 

Dad is the hardest working man I've ever known, always has been, always will be. He would work 12+ hour days, standing on concrete floors in the meat shop as a butcher, come home and work for hours at his sawmill, take care of all the animals, including the 10 or so head of cattle he had for years, not to mention anything else that needed doing for himself or a friend. It was always dark when he left of a morning, and dark when he came home at night. But, it needed to be done, so he'd do it. He is still that way. The only difference is right now he's having to take care of mom's territory; The house. 

A couple weeks ago, I told them I wanted to clean their house for them. Believe it or not I was allowed to!  So, I took mom to therapy at 9AM, and when she was done we picked up some "brunch". We were back home by 10:30. After I got her settled in for a nap, I started to work. 

• First things first. I knew I wanted to fix supper, so I pulled some meat out of the freezer to thaw. 
• Next I picked up some odds and ends that were scattered here and there and put them away. 
• Then I started dusting, vacuuming and sweeping in every room except the kitchen. I always do it last.
• I cleaned both the bathrooms and emptied the trashes. 
• I remade dad's bed that he'd been sleeping on because it was wrinkly. 
• I walked to my house to get some yeast to start some home made bread. 
• Did a load of laundry.

I did all of this without waking mom up. I felt like I was pretty quiet, and things got done without her being disturbed. I like this! After I had finished all the picking up, dusting, vacuuming and sweeping in every other room, I started on the kitchen. 

• I cleaned off the cabinets (because dad has a bad habit of piling things on them)
• Wiped everything down
• Swept the floor
• Emptied the dishwasher and then put the dirty dishes in it
• Emptied the trash
• Finished my bread so it could raise. 

Feeling very accomplished, and mom had woke up by this time, so I came to town, paid some bills and bought a few things I needed for supper, then proceeded to come home and start fixing said supper, as well as 3 loaves of home baked bread. Now, I was done with everything with some time to spare. I stalled supper a bit so it would be hot when dad came home. I pulled the last loaf of bread out of the oven at 5:30. 

What does this have to do with my subject? Because this is a big difference I've noticed between men and women, and the next part of this discussion involves my dad. See? I knew I could do it. Let's give an example of how a man would handle something similar to this.

When dad's off, he never spends a full day in the house, but my wonderful dad was home this morning. While he does everything well, I can't help but notice that he does it in a very inefficient manner. He can't cook his breakfast, and mom's breakfast at the same time. They're having 2 different kinds of eggs, yes, but other than that...........

Then, he's cleaning the kitchen after breakfast. He's practically running through there. In all fairness, though, that is dad's manner. He's always been that way because he has a lot to do, but faster is not always better. 

I felt bad this morning because mom was trying to get some extra sleep after breakfast. There was no way ANYONE was going to sleep at that time. Dad was banging on plates, slamming the dishwasher door, stomping across the floor while taking scraps outside and then slamming the door, stomping back across the floor as he came back in. All the while trying to talk to me. Every move he made jarred mom awake, and she'd look at me with a sour frown as if to say "I wish he'd just be quiet!" 

To top it all off, cleaning the kitchen alone took him an hour. AN HOUR! I felt like a nervous wreck by the time he got done. He's like this with most inside chores. 

So here's my question; Do you think that men are just unaccustomed to doing household chores, therefore making it seem harder for them to handle? Or, God has given women special patience when it comes to running a smooth house? Or, is there another reason?

There are "Mr. Mom's" out there, and my dad is great at getting things done, so I am in no way complaining. I'm so very proud to have a dad like him. I just can't help but wonder if things like this are one of the reasons men and women are made so differently. Oh, and so I'm sure to come full circle on my subject, Happy Father's Day to all the great dads out there......especially mine. 

I would love to hear your opinions.

DISCUSS!