Hubby's Misconceptions

I am utterly exhausted today, and my back is killing me. The stress of being a working mom is really taking a toll on me with everything we need to get done to the house and for Christmas. Ugh. Last night, I got home from work and cleaned the upstairs of the house, made blueberry muffins for my whining husband who has been asking me to make them for weeks, gave Maddy a bath, played with her for a while, and spent 45 minutes getting her to bed. Oh, and in the middle of that, took out all the trash, had a stamping customer stop by to pick up her order, and went through all the mail from the past few days to see what things needed to be handled.

Now, do you know what my husband did last night? He hung out at his mom's house after work, so that he could time getting home at the same time as me (thus, not having to watch Maddy by himself). I get home and she's in the Pack n' Play, and he's on the couch watching TV. He leaves her with me and runs out to pick up some Quizno's for dinner. Comes back and takes a nap with Maddy while I clean - they are both snoring away in the recliner while I make the damn muffins. He watches TV while I give her a bath and then heads out to the hot tub while I put her to bed.

Now, I realize there are a few good things about what he did last night - he handled dinner and he kept her occupied while I cleaned upstairs; however, I have to remind you all that my day starts when I leave the house at 6 a.m. and I get home from work at 5:30 p.m. I make about 35% more $ than my husband. I have an hour commute each way. Our arrangement is that he is supposed to make dinner and do the dishes every night, and I honestly couldn't tell you the last time he cooked a meal. Dishes will sit for a long time before he does them, but the last few times I've ended up doing those too on the weekend.

Every time I've gone Christmas shopping, I've had Madeline with me. Every time I have a stamping function, I have Madeline with me. Jerry doesn't change diapers at home like ever.

You know what he tells me all the time, and this is exactly what he said when I asked him if he would put her to bed last night, "No way - I have her every morning."

Every morning, he does have to get her out the door. But, I leave at 6, and he leaves at 7:15. He takes her to his mom's in pajamas, because at the beginning of each week, after I do all of her laundry, I pack a bag of clothes for her and send it over there. So, really he has one hour to entertain her and put her in the snowsuit and snap her into the car seat. Yet, when I get home she's basically attached to me until she goes to bed 4 hours later.

Blah. I know I'm being petty. And I know Jerry thinks he's doing a lot, but I have to tell you that I am in desperate need of some alone time. I just want some time to do something without the baby and without Jerry asking every 2 seconds if I'm done yet or when I'm going to be home. Bah.

He doesn't get it. I am really feeling stressed out.