Bad Wifery
This week, I feel like a really bad wife. I already knew I was a bad wife in the retro, traditional sense, in that I don’t really provide a nurturing, soothing environment for my husband to come home to every night. No, I get home long after he does, and when I finally arrive home, I usually try to find ways to convince him to run out and get me a bottle of wine. I do most of the cooking, but purely because I am a control freak in the kitchen, not
out of any sense of duty. So, I fail in the 1950s definition of a good wife, and I’m pretty comfortable with that. But lately, I’m failing in all kinds of new ways.
1. I’m not throwing a party for his birthday.
2. I forgot to buy him a gift until two days before his birthday, when I ordered some stuff from Amazon and had to pay $45 in shipping to get it here on time.
3. This morning, I forgot that it was his birthday and did not wish him Happy Birthday until I had been awake for quite a while. (In my defense, I’m really not a morning person.)
4. When organizing his birthday dinner, I invited some mutual friends and my friends, but forgot to invite all of his old friends. Oops.
Oh well, there's always next year.
out of any sense of duty. So, I fail in the 1950s definition of a good wife, and I’m pretty comfortable with that. But lately, I’m failing in all kinds of new ways.
1. I’m not throwing a party for his birthday.
2. I forgot to buy him a gift until two days before his birthday, when I ordered some stuff from Amazon and had to pay $45 in shipping to get it here on time.
3. This morning, I forgot that it was his birthday and did not wish him Happy Birthday until I had been awake for quite a while. (In my defense, I’m really not a morning person.)
4. When organizing his birthday dinner, I invited some mutual friends and my friends, but forgot to invite all of his old friends. Oops.
Oh well, there's always next year.
posted by Lady Tiara @ 1:52 AM
4 Comments:
At 6/22/06, 1:08 PM,
JordanBaker said…
"Bad wifery" makes me think of the Book of Margery Kempe:
"Margery, yf her come a man wyth a swerd and wold smyte of myn hed les than I schulde comown kendly wyth yow as I have do befor. . .wold ye suffyr myn hed to be smet of, er ellys suffyr me to medele wyth yow aayen as I deded sumtyme?"
[. . .] And then sche seyd wyth gret sorwe: "Forsothe I had levar se yow be slayn than we schuld turne ayen to owyr unclennesse."
And he seyd ayen: "Ye arn no good wyfe."
Not that it's terribly relevant, but I like to combine Middle English and blogging whenever the chance arises.
At 6/22/06, 2:56 PM,
Kathryn Is So Over said…
It makes me think of "midwifery," which is pronounced with "whiff" in the middle.
Badwifery.
PS I'm pretty sure Lord Kissington still loves you, but he *may* be mentally filing this away should he ever screw up your birthday. :)
At 6/22/06, 7:43 PM,
bryc3 said…
kathryn's right. men have a word for this. we call it ammunition.
but if it makes you feel any better- enumerating the things he can later hold against you is doing him a tremendous favor.
At 6/23/06, 8:06 PM,
Lady Tiara said…
jb: when i chose the "bad wifery" title, i was sort of thinking of this simpsons episode where bart and lisa are in the cemetary looking at the graves of people who voted for sideshow bob for mayor, and one of them is prudence goodwife, so is supposed to be from colonial times, but i thought the goodwife bit sounded very middle english, which is i guess what i had in mind with the whole wifery thing. that was a ridiculously long sentence.
kathryn: he doesn't seem the least bit annoyed, which works out pretty well for me.
bryc3: see above.
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