A Man in Motion Is An Amazing Thing!

Rule of thumb is if a guy isn’t motivated to do something you want done, he either won’t do it, OR if he does, it’ll be begrudgingly. Last weekend my husband turned into a decluttering machine. I had no idea it was coming, but when I realized what was happening I was VERY pleased. When my sweetie gets into this kind of mood, it’s “holy smokes amazing”. In a 4-hour period, he cleaned out the catalogue shelf, the food pantry, the cookbook and recipes cupboard and even ventured into his office to start cleaning his desk and purging his office files. Talk about efficient. Truthfully, I’ve been purposely ignoring some of the spots he tidied up because I wasn’t ready to make decisions on them. Needless to say when this guy’s ready, he’s ready and he was actually asking for my input on some of it, “Keep or Ditch?” Now let me put this situation into context for you. Although my husband’s priority for that day was decluttering, it certainly wasn’t mine. My time that day was dedicated to preparing for the official launch of my new company “The Luv Chick”. Tip: “Don’t discourage a man from doing something you want done just because his sense of timing doesn’t fit in with yours.” So how did I navigate the murky water of providing my husband with the input he needed from me (whilst staying focused on my goal for the day) without derailing his enthusiasm and energy? I Congratulated Him For His Initiative and What He’d Accomplished: I used comments like, “Wow! You totally amaze me.” “You’re really efficient at doing this!” “I’ve been wanting this done for a long time, but I didn’t have the energy to do it. Thank you!” ”I love what you’ve done, it looks fantastic.” I also followed these comments with a big kiss, a hug and another “Thank you.” I Pitched in a Little – To Keep the Flow Going – For example, as my sweetie was cleaning out his files, I popped into the office and scanned the room. I noticed that the recycling container was overflowing, so I nabbed it, emptied it out and quickly brought it back so it was ready for the next batch of papers. I also made a quick lunch so he would stay focused as long as possible on what he was doing. You might be wondering where women’s lib fit in with all of this. On one hand, I know this isn’t usually the kind of praise or help we women get from the guys on this kind of stuff, but at the same time when you’re reestablishing a new rhythm in your household, my thought is that it’s best to suck it up in the short term if it leads to long-term gain. How would you handle this if it happened to you?