Wives vs Dinner

I took Paula to lunch today for her birthday and we had a discussion that is near and dear to both of our hearts and it was so nice to know that I am not alone in my frustration.

She was telling me how on Friday, she was cooking dinner.  Her Dear Hubby (DH) works down the road close to the city, so he has a commute home, but she said he was almost always home by 7:00pm, so this is the time she was planning dinner for.  Her veggie dish that night was lima beans (yuck) and she started them to be ready by 7:00.  DH did not get home until 8:45. No phone call to let her know he was running late, etc.  When they got dinner, DH and their youngest son, who is almost 18, started mocking the poor overcooked lima beans with things like "Hey, maybe next time you could start cooking these at like eight in the morning."  Of course, she finally had to point out that she had been planning dinner for 7:00.

The Brit works an insane amount of hours a week and he has an insane job with many responsibilities.  I get it and I appreciate it because it means that I can work my part time job and accomplish all the comings and goings of house and kids, and sometimes even get to enjoy lunch with a friend.  My only frustration with his job and with him in direct reference to his job is that I often have no clue as to what time he is coming home.  Yes, there are some nights when he tells me that the kids and I should go ahead and eat without him and sometimes we do, but really, I would rather sit down to dinner as a family if at all possible.  There are evenings I will call him to find out his ETA, he will give me one and then be 45 minutes to an hour late.

Now in the big scheme of life, the time our husbands get home is not really that big a deal I guess, but the problem is that there is no food fairy.  Things have to cook a specific amount of time and often meats kept on Warm too long become dried out and gross.  Veggies get overcooked and turn to mush.  I get hungry and the kids start circling the kitchen as if they are deciding to overthrow the mama lion and take the feast for themselves.

The same kind of goes for knowing whether or not a husband is going to be home for dinner or if there is a business dinner.  I get that the husbands do not always know immediately.  I get it, I do.  But please see it from another perspective.  If it is just myself and the kids, minimal cooking actually occurs.  I don't eat much so anything suits me and the kids always, and I mean always want eggs when dad isn't going to be home for dinner.  So this requires minimal planning....and minimal defrosting as meat is generally frozen.  If we don't know until four or five 'o clock that you will be home for dinner, then it is a royal pain to figure out what to have for dinner that can be defrosted in a hurry so we can have it cooked and ready by six or even dried out by six-forty-five.

So there lies a female dilemma.  We try not to get angry and frustrated but we are wives and not magicians.  There is no POOF the food is on the table wand.  We love and adore our husbands.  We just like to know what time their bread is to be buttered.

My new addiction:



Oh, and I think I broke my little toe yesterday.