Sometimes random realizations are startling but very profound! This weekend, I had one of those realizations. (Please note - if you're going to be offended by the word S E X Y, close this window now and go back to watching Sesame Street)!When we were teenagers, we always thought of the hunky men as the ones with the big muscles and gleaming smiles. We really didn't care too much about their skills beyond looking good for the camera. However, as time has marched on for me, I had the realization that those hunks with six pack abs aren't really all that interesting anymore. I find myself wondering if those cheesy guys could change a diaper that looks as if an atomic bomb went off and propelled the contents to the extreme edges of reasonable! Could he fish Hot Wheels cars from the toilet without having to call the plumber? Could Mr. Hunky apply diaper rash medicine without getting grossed out? Probably not. Those hunks would probably get a big fat F in common sense and childcare!
Over the last eleven years, I've seen Eric change diapers, get puked on, pooped on, and peed on! I'm sure it really wouldn't make him feel much better but those are all pretty sexy things for a man to endure in the name of maintaining home life! Simply taking the kids to the park and allowing me thirty minutes to sit alone and stare at the darkness creeping over our house (also known as the toy takeover) goes way beyond what any super model could do despite the name brand stitched on their undies. (Mind you, I never try to battle this darkness in these moments of silence but I do love to sit and just be amazed at how much of the house I've lost to the darkness)! Anyway, as I get older, I realize that those commercials with Fabio riding up on a white horse with his long flowing hair to deliver I Can't Believe It's Not Butter to some helpless maiden just don't do it for me anymore! I'm mean, come on! Just let Mr. Buttered Buns Fabio try to get a wet toddler into pjs with toothpick-sized arms and see how appreciative he'd be of that long hair! He'd wish he had a pony-tail holder to get that mess out of his face! However, you let some man with an old t-shirt that's wet up to the elbows from the baby's bath water who is in need of a shave and hair cut successfully and lovingly dress a wriggling toddler (after applying the correct lotion and other essential products) and then snuggle that baby up close to him, you'd have the majority of the 30+ women hunting him down and hanging his poster on the back of their closet door!
It was this weekend as we were climbing from the minivan (oh, excuse me, the Man Van - sounds much less suburbanite and more masculine) after church to grab a bite to eat that I had one of these sudden realizations. Annie had fussed the entire way to the restaurant and kicked both of her shoes off, pulled her socks off, AND yanked her bow out of her hair. She simply wanted to go home and have a nap. She didn't have any need for a sit down meal. However, Eric calmly got her shoes and socks back on and then reached for the white frilly hair bow. I half way expected him to look at it, laugh, and then throw it back in the floor of the van with the other remnants of outfits gone awry. However, he carefully took the bow and put it back in Annie's hair. It just about brought tears to my eyes. It was so un-manly but at the same time so... WOW!
Like I said, it was just one of those random realizations but it was in that moment I realized that Fabio could take his fake butter and peddle it to the younger crowd! My man can change a poopy diaper, administer Tylenol to a cranky baby, shop for unmentionables with a daughter, and have spit-up running down his back but I'll take him over Fabio any day of the week!
Here's to my hubby who is way too sexy for Annie's hair bows but doesn't mind and neither do I!
