Tuesday, December 18, 2007

are you there, blog? it's me, erin

The last week or so has caused me to realize how grateful I am that my husband is NOT a high-powered workaholic executive. Sure, the convertible might be nice, but it turns out that having a husband who’s around is nicer. I am sure of this by my experience of the opposite.

This week is finals week for Mike- finals week of his first semester in a doctoral program. I’m not sure I remember what he looks like. No, I am exaggerating completely- but the long hours of staring at a computer screen/giant Greek lexicon (nerd) until he nearly goes blind have been a great reminder to me of how great it is to come home and hang out with him, and talk about our day, make some food together, whatever. I am so glad that this finals week time is not the norm. Of course, the semester of comps is going to be a different story. Possibly a much worse story. I am taking applications for Husband Substitute, a position that will need to be filled in the spring of 2009 (and by that I mean applications from girl friends, so stop judging me).

What is most frustrating is that I can’t do very much to help Mike. Back when we were both in college, at least I could study along with him, and commiseration is a help, right? Plus, we were studying basically the same subjects and working on many of the same projects. But now, I don’t know how much help I can be when it comes to a doctoral paper on the kingship of Saul and how it relates to ancient Judaism versus modern Christianity- at least beyond the realm of some paltry grammar edits. Now, I feel that all I can do is offer to make him some food, or put his laundry away. (Although this may be something that many dutiful wives already do for their husbands, we have a different setup- all the clean laundry gets dumped on the bed, and then we dig out our own and put it away. I would venture that this is a good system, since I can earn some brownie points just by putting away his laundry when he’s busy.)

It’s definitely a tough week for him, and I am trying to keep busy as well, just to promote the whole “aura” of productivity. But I will be none too pleased to celebrate with him when it’s done- at least until the end of April, when round two begins.

1 comment:

Roland said...

I think the presence of non-academics in the house is a big boon even before you "do" anything. Keeps Mike from getting totally sucked into what he's doing. Ultimately, your impact in assuring his well-roundedness may be impossible to calculate, but very real.

I'm so with you on the "prefer the husband who's there" to the corporate exec. I don't see how people can stay married as workacholics... I guess many don't.