I slept in late today. Yes, today of all days. I got up at 10.50am after a terrible night of tossing and turning. My mind was racing with all kinds of stuff until in the end, I settled. The last time I looked at the clock was 5am. Not good after a 3am lights-out the night before.
When I staggered down to the kitchen, my Successful Other Half was there, nursing a cup of tea. She offered me one and I gratefully accepted. Then I wished her a happy Mother’s Day and she smiled a half-smile. And then I apologised for over-sleeping.
‘Fine,’ she said.
Which means: ‘You’ve got some broken glass to crawl over.’
And then I remembered the dream I was having just before I woke up.
In this dream, my wife was a physiotherapists whose clients included many of the mothers at school. They all complained of aching backs and tried feet caused by the efforts of their labour bringing up their kids.
They used to rely on my wife before she got the job which resulted in us swapping roles and me becoming a full-time housedad four months ago. She’d massage any their worries, with expert fingers and wise counselling.
But with my wife at work, I now had to step into the fray. I had to become the physio she once was. So a succession of women lined up with their shoes and socks, baring their feet for me to soothe.
I was hopeless at it. Each one left hobbling in pain and uttering under their breaths.
‘Weird dream, eh?’ I said to my wife.
‘Not really,’ she replied. ‘It’s obvious what it means. You’re walking in my shoes and you think you’re failing at it.’
The fact that I had the lie-in this morning while she attended to the kids breakfast needs may well mean she has a point!
Chronicles of a Reluctant Housedad 