So it seems my trash can has supernatural powers. Namely, the ability to turn invisible.
A Now You See Me, Now You Don’t kind of thing.
For example, when a family member needs to throw something away, it appears. Even if it’s full, it’s there to accept just one more Jello cup.
But if said family member walks by that overflowing lid on the way out the garage, POOF!
It’s gone.
As if there is no full trash can to be emptied at all.
Much to my disappointment, I am apparently immune.
The full trash can sits there in all its slovenly glory, completely visible to me at all times.
What I was not immune to this past week was a nasty sinus infection.
The kind that completely incapacitates you. During the day, it fills your head with a haze of confusion like you’re the walking dead and feels like a vice is pushing on your brain. At night, it shuts off one side of your nose so you can only breathe in half the air you need and then sends coughing fits that suck out that bit of air from your lungs.
Oh, yes, it was fun.
I wasn’t completely out of it, though. I still noticed the shifty things in the house.
Like the trash can’s ability to disappear.
The dishwasher seems to have some cloak and dagger skills as well.
It sat full of clean dishes for two full days, while the dirty ones kept filling the sink.
I’m thinking it has a motion sensor on its ‘clean’ light. When someone walks by, it shuts off, undetected that there is something to be done there.
Then, when someone might entertain the thought of adding a dirty fork, it glows green again, indicating an untouchable clean space.
Just like the trash can, I am immune to this. I guess it knows it can’t fool me. After all, I’m the one who fills it and starts the cycle.
Household chores can be a touchy subject in marriage, can’t they? Who should do what? Who does more?
I thought being down for the count would make a difference. That hubby would automatically take care of the trash and the dishes. After all, he’s the other adult in the house.
But it didn’t happen.
Now to be fair, hubby stayed home from work a day and a half to help. He kept the boys busy so I could die rest on the couch. He ran to get us food three times because I hadn’t been to the grocery store before I was attacked by nasty germs. He reminded the boys to be quieter so my head wouldn’t explode.
I just wished the other things would have been done.
But that was the problem. I was wishing when I should have been asking.
I think after doing certain things non-stop for several years, you sometimes forget it doesn’t have to be done by you. You also don’t see what someone else always takes care of. Habits are hard to break.
Like I don’t really notice how long the grass is because I don’t cut it. It doesn’t bother me when it snows until I have to get out of the driveway, but it’s cleared before I’m even up.
Hubby wasn’t purposely ignoring the trash. It just wasn’t on his radar.
And Moms don’t get sick, right? Well, we typically keep going like the Energizer bunny even when we do get sick. Part of our problem sometimes. We’re bad at shutting ourselves down, even when we have no choice.
But here’s what I was reminded of.
With all of the duties we assume day-in and day-out, we forget to ask for help when we need it.
I needed help. I wished I didn’t need to ask for it. But sometimes you just need to ask.
And when I did, the trash was removed and the dishes put away.
It’s the same with our Father in heaven. When we need help, He wants us to ask. One difference is…He knows perfectly well what we need help with. But He still wants us to ask.
“Ask, and it will be given to you;
seek, and you will find; knock, and it
will be opened to you.”
Matthew 7:7
So…we need to ask Him for help even though he already knows what we need. And we definitely need to ask the hubby, because he can’t read our minds.
Mind reading would be convenient, though, wouldn’t it?
Like I could tell him dinner is ready without shouting down to the basement.
Or silently ask that he come close the bathroom door – because pee wee left it open – before all my shower steam leaves the room.
Superpowers could come in handy.
Too bad I can’t make myself invisible once in a while.
Mom, I can’t find my shoes.
Mom, where’s my sweatshirt?
Mom, can you get me some milk?
Mom!
Where’s Mom? 🙂
Which items in your house have superpowers? I’d love to hear your cloak and dagger story!
Butterfly Heart 