Random Questions - Round Three

In case you're joining in late, I'm taking part in 'Random Questions' put out by my friend Randa Kay. I find this found of questions by far the most interesting and of course, they are very timely. I almost posted about parts of this very topic this morning. Thanks RK!

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This round is focused on home life. I always find myself very interested in what others do when they're not "doing" anything. Weird? Maybe...but there's a reason reality shows are so darn popular!

1. What happens at your house in a given weekday evening? Who’s doing what? (Mom, Dad, and kids--together or separate.)

On a typical evening I get off work first so I go pick up Kabe and head home, begin dinner (of figure out what's for dinner...), homework, trying to get everything done before any of our reality/favorite shows start at 7pm. I am frequently reading and/or online, helping Kabe with homework, reading, snuggling, pushing him through night routines (bath, picking up etc). Kabe is usually playing with some sort of toy (Knex/Legos) or his Gameboy DS, puzzles, or coloring -- he's usually always doing something. Once Adam is down for the day, he's just vegging, most likely just reading the paper.

2. How are the chores divided up in your house? Who does what when it comes to laundry, cooking, cleaning, yard work?

Cooking - Jen
Weekly Cleaning - Adam (floors/toilets/vacuum/dust)
Laundry - Jen
Loading dishwasher - both
Unloading dishwasher - Jen (side note: he strongly dislikes doing this. I'm definitely not complaining about this, but I am doing a little experiment. =) As it stands right now it's been clean and full for one week now and every night / morning we've both been doing dishes by hand rather than emptying the dishwasher. We'll see how long this goes on. I don't mind emptying the dishwasher and actually love our arrangement. I simply find this humorous.)

3. How often do you have time with you just you and a spouse, even just a little time here or there? What do you do with that time--talk, work, plan, read, etc? (PG rated, please. HA!)

Kabe goes to bed around 8 - 8:30pm on school nights and we go to bed a little after 10pm, so realistically, we should have 1 1/2 - 2 hours most nights give-or-take. There are nights when we use it productively and have a good conversation or snuggle and watch a show or each read something, but sadly, more often than naught, he is in the recliner watching tv (the tv is on way too much) and I am on the computer (I am on it way more than I should be) or reading or knitting.

4. Compared to what you thought it would be like 10 years ago, would you say life in your home is...
~Nothing like you thought it would be.
~Kind of like you thought it would be.
~Exactly like you thought it would be.
~Better than you thought it would be.
Our relationship seems to go through periods where we're really connected and communication is great, life is easy -- in other words ~ better than I ever thought marriage could ever be (or at least a bit like the dream we thought marriage was supposed to be when we were planning to be married!!). In reality, right now, we're in this place where every situation, every communication we come to is from different angles where we strive to understand what the other is truly saying and frequently get it all confused. I know from experience that much of this would be alleviated by turning the tv off more and spending time together just talking, hanging out, dates, etc. I also know that even with all this, sometimes, it just takes time and as we are growing and changing, so is our relationship. It will all iron out and be better for it in the end as long as we both keep trying -- and we are. I guess my answer for this exact moment in time is ~~ Kind of like I thought it would be.