When my dad retired, my mom, who had "retired" when my brother was born after being a stewardess with Pan Am for 14 years and always listed "homemaker" as her profession, joked that when they got married she had vowed to be with him "in sickness and in health, but not for lunch."
As long as we've known each other, Jen has had Mondays and Tuesdays off and worked Wed-Fri 5:30-midnight (leaving the house around 4:15, depending on traffic) and Saturday and Sunday mornings, generally getting home anytime between 11:30am and 3pm, depending on what's going on that day.
That means that while I'm on maternity leave, unlike many women who's spouses work full-time, I have her home during the day 5 days a week (she's not home during the day on the weekends, however). Of course, that means that 3 days per week, she's not home during dinner time, but, like I said, her schedule has always been like this. We've never had days off together except for Monday holidays and vacations.
It is SO nice to have her here during the day while we've been getting used to our new family. We've settled into a great routine, especially with Jack usually taking a nice long nap in the middle of the day; that means we get some nice time together with Nate.
Today we had a nice lunch together and then Jen spontaneously made some rice pudding with leftover Chinese food take-out white rice. I guess our Mondays and Tuesdays while I'm on leave is what "normal" people have on Saturdays and Sundays.
So I say yes to "in sickness and in health" ... and even for lunch.
So glad to hear you guys are adjusting to the new routine! It's funny. Your story reminded me of how Chi-Yun and I never had dinner together Tuesday- Saturday the 10 years I worked at the library. When I quit to have the babies it felt so strange to dine together every night! Never knew what I was missing:) Enjoy the time together!
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