30 Mar 2006 06:04 PM

Surviving Frogs, Mud-Covered Sons, Lipstick Enhanced Daughters and Sweat-Covered Husbands!

by Candace Salima | More from this Blogger

     

You know, there's just nothing like your five-year-old son traipsing in the house, his little fist tightly clutched around a protesting croaking frog. When he holds up said frog, with all the pride a five-year-old can muster, all you can do is nod, smile and gently usher him back out of the house. That's if you have a phobia about slimey, gooey, green things . . . and I do. Now I don't have a son, but I have adorable nephews, Connor and Brigham, for whom I would conquer the world. They have a fondness for bugs. My sweet little Connor, who's the size of a sturdy twelve-year-old at the age of eight, fell in love with a praying mantis last year. Oh, that child loves me so much he wanted to bring it to me and let me be as delighted as he was. Fortunately for me, his mother, my little sister, managed to convince him that aunty just doesn't like bugs. Mud-covered - yes. Sweat-covered - yes. Bugs, slimey things, snakes - ugh!

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Now my sweet little nieces like to paint themselves, their mother and their auntie with makeup. With all the love in my heart, I sit there and am turned into a caricature of Joan Crawford on her worst day. When the makeup portion is completed, then we move on to the hair. At the end of our pampering sessions, fingernail polish, lipstick, eyeshadow and blush cover every portion of uncovered skin. My hair is often gathered in portions and put in ponytails, willy nilly, all over my head. The true measure of my love is that I will actually kiss those sweet little girls, get in my car and drive home like that.

Then there are sweat-covered husbands. Yes, I do have one of those. There are some husbands who come home for work, park themselves on the couch, turn the television on and settle in for the night. Bring them their dinner, drink and dessert and don't bother them. Then there are those who work, really work hard but upon arriving home still tend to park it in a chair and read the paper rather than help around home. My husband has a few words to say to those husbands: "Get off your butts and help your wives!" Those are his words, not mine, but I echo the sentiment. Believe me, we women much prefer a hard-working man who understands that a woman's job might be the house, the children, the church and the community -- not to mention being a loving, attentive wife to her husband - I'll weigh that against any eight to five corporate job and wager that a woman could more successfully do that corporate job than her husband could do her job. Lucky for me, my husband appreciates me for all I do, helps me around the house and still works hard. I appreciate him for all he does, both inside and outside of the home. So I'll take my sweat-covered husband over a deadbeat any day!

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Candace E. Salima was born right smack dab in the middle of twelve children.

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6 comments so far

GypsyGirlElliott (15) 31 Mar 2006 06:02 AM

"The true measure of my love is that I will actually kiss those sweet little girls, get in my car and drive home like that."

How true is that! So many people are so worried about that others think that they forget the most important thing - that kids are kids for so little of a time. Let's just let them be kids and help them enjoy it while they can.

Candace Salima (1593) 31 Mar 2006 01:09 PM

A very good point. I love my nephews and nieces as much as if they were my own. There are great many things I would do for them that I would never consider otherwise. They are young for so short a time and the pride and pleasure that beams out of their faces as I wave and drive off is truly amazing. I'm getting a warm fuzzy in my heart just thinking about. As soon as it's a reasonable hour of the morning I'm going to go see those kids!

C.L. Beck (215) 31 Mar 2006 02:56 PM

Anyone who has nephews, nieces or sweaty husbands can relate to this blogg. Candice did a great job, and I especially liked her reference to looking like Joan Crawford on her worst day. It was so amusing I made my husband stop what he was doing so I could read it to him.

Candace Salima (1593) 31 Mar 2006 03:42 PM

Yeah, little girls have a talent for making you look your best, in their eyes, and your worst in ours. But you gotta love 'em!

ShannaMB (48) 01 Apr 2006 01:00 AM

I loved this! I have two nieces and a nephew and believe me I have done some things that I have not wanted to (that most definitely includes bugs and things like that) for them!

And I can't agree more--just because you're at home doesn't mean you're not doing anything (although in my case that is on occasion true!). I'm currently "training" my husband. He thinks that technically since I'm home more, I should do more housework. I'm trying to convince him if we just pick up after ourselves, spend twenty minutes a day at the most plus a couple of hours when we have time off together then the house would be in perfect shape most of the time!

Candace Salima (1593) 01 Apr 2006 04:31 PM

Ah, the beauty of family dynamics. Everybody is different - but President Hinckley has made it pretty clear that everyone is to help out at home. He's the prophet - gotta go with what he says, right?

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