When it was time for my wife, Priya, to resume work after
our son Vihaan was born, I decided to take advantage of my company’s policies
and work from home. Though Priya never voiced her doubts out aloud but I knew
she had taken my decision with a grain of salt. She was right to have doubts,
after all she knew I was the kind of person who on reaching home at 3 am after
a Business trip would still be on time for office the next day. Also, it was
not as if either of us had to stay home for Vihaan… we had the luxury of having a very accomplished nanny who was more than
capable of looking after the kid while we were at office.
The reason I choose to work from home was so I was there
when Vihaan said his first word or took his first step. I wanted to be there
not only for all my baby’s milestones but to see him grow every day. I wanted
to be there for everything I had missed with my older son Aarav, who was now away
at boarding school.
So, we (by that I mean me and my very reluctant wife) decided
to keep the nanny for a few hours in the morning and after that Vihaan was my
responsibility… Other than the couple of
meetings I had to attend every morning, my hours were very flexible. I could very
easily catch up with my work later in the evening when my wife got home. The
arrangement was therefore perfect!
I embraced my role with gusto. Vihaan was a wonderful kid,
he reserved most of his tantrums for the nights when his mother was around!
Carrying him about on a sling would keep the little tyke happy most of the
time. Very soon we had developed a comfortable routine where the nanny would
take care of Vihaan in the morning, while we both worked. Afternoon, I would
take care of Vihaan and evenings I would catch up on my work while my wife took
care of Vihaan and caught up with the chores.
Then one day, out of the blue, I decided to put on a fresh
pot of coffee myself instead of waiting for Priya to come home and do it for us.
This simple act was greeted with such gratitude that I was overwhelmed! As she
hugged me, I vowed right then to #ShareTheLoad and help her in her chores in
every little way I can.
Soon I added doing the laundry and grocery shopping to the
routine. Every now and then I would even do the dishes! The smile that I had
fallen for when I first saw Priya, was now a permanent fixture on her face. The
fun that had faded from our marriage over the years was slowly creeping back.
In spite of a baby in the house, we still felt we had more time for each other.
It has been ten years since. I eventually went back to
working from office when Vihaan started preschool. But I never gave up helping
around the house. Of course Priya is the man of the house and she does most of
the chores but doing the laundry and the grocery shopping is my job now. I also
help with the kids’ homework as often as I can and I can proudly say that I have
never missed a single meeting at school!
Like they say, a happy wife is a happy life. What they didn't
tell you however, was that behind every happy wife was a husband willingly doing the laundry!!
 |
| Image Credit: Ariel India |
________________________________________________________________________________
I am writing for the #ShareTheLoad activity at BlogAdda.com in association with Ariel.
All characters in this post are figments of my imagination. Any
similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.