Husband Appreciation Post

February is a month about love for me. I know what you’re thinking—Valentines. Well, not exactly.

Pedro and I started dating on February 18 2007 (it’s been 13 years!), we got married in a church on February 19 2012, and his birthday is February 28^th. And that’s not even mentioning Valentines. But it fits right along in there.

We usually roll our anniversary(s) and Valentine’s day into one nice big celebration because that’s a lot of things to celebrate in just one month.

I’m honestly not much for big celebrations. I don’t particularly care about anniversaries. We also got married in June (in a courthouse when we were 20!) and sometimes we both forget we are supposed to be celebrating. One year I remember sitting on the couch scrolling through my phone when a thing about Michael Jackson came up and I looked over at Pedro and was like “Oh, it’s our anniversary, we should probably order some food or something”

Seriously. I don’t make a big deal. And as you can imagine, neither does he.

Instead I prefer more thoughtful gifts. And not to receive, Pedro also isn’t much into making things, but to give. I can spend months planning out the perfect gift I want to give.

This year, however, I have been wrapped up in everything else (pregnancy, work, preparing for baby, kid, school, you name it), I haven’t given any time or thought into what I wanted to give him this year, for our anniversary, valentines, or even his birthday. (sorry babe!)

But I thought one thing I could do was let him know exactly how much I appreciate him for everything he does. I mean I’m not sure I can top my “perfect” marriage post, but I can try. Sorry if this gets too mushy.

13 Things I love After 13 Years Together

He picks up where I leave off: Being a parent isn’t fair. Some days I am too tired to make it to dinner time (especially during pregnancy). He would never in a million years wake me up. He’ll give the girls dinner and put them to bed without making it an issue.

He’s the best dad ever: Seriously, I have never met a better dad. He plays with the girls like he does it for a living. And you can just tell he is having fun too.

He does the shopping: Thank God, I have him, he does the grocery shopping. We actually do this together but he’ll do it on his own and I won’t. We’d end up eating crap for the week if it was left up to me.

He does the dishes: There is no chore I enjoy doing but if there is one that I hate, it’s dishes. People talk about laundry being a never-ending feat, but dishes? Forget about it. I literally could leave the dishes for weeks but he’ll come along and do them. Seriously. This is my favorite thing.

When he’s irritated, he doesn’t take it out on me:  I cannot say it works the other way around.

He works really hard: There have been times in our life, where he hasn’t had the job he wanted but he stayed through a lot of bullshit, just to be able to provide for us.

His sense of humor: Even when I’m so angry at him, he can always make me laugh

He chooses me: I sometimes think about how lucky I am because he will choose me, 100% of the time.

He believes in me: Even when I don’t.

He puts my anxiety at bay: I have anxiety and it’s gotten worse over the years but anytime I’m feeling like I can’t breathe or I’m using all my mental energy for crazy, one in a million chance of happening, possibilities, he’s always there to center me. Except on a plane. He’s not good at that one, but I forgive him for all the other times.

He’s grown: When we met we were still kids (17&18). He never wanted kids, he was never going to get married, he was going to be “18 until I die” but then, we grew up together. We did get married (he asked), we had kids (I may have been the instigator there) and he definitely doesn’t act like he is 18 anymore. And I have loved him at every stage.

That thing you can’t name: Sometimes, you don’t know why you love someone, you just do. That feeling, that spark, it’s there. And all of the other things either make it grow or burn it out but it’s that first thing you saw. And he has always had that.

He loves me: That can’t be easy.

Any Regrets?

I have been with this man for 13 years now, give or take a few months here and there. And being as I have been with him that long, starting out at age 17, I get a lot of questions from people who did not settle down quite as fast as I did, about if I regret it. Questions like: If I could still have what I have today, would I have waited to get married? Would I change what I have today? Would I let my daughters do the same thing?

First things first. I wouldn’t change a thing. Not one millisecond of my time even if it didn’t change the outcome today, it would mean less time with my best friend. And I wouldn’t change that for anything.

As far as my daughters doing the same thing? I’m not sure my own mother had a choice in the matter so I’m not sure I would either. But I will say this, no, I probably wouldn’t like it but if it turned out even half as good as I have it, I couldn’t fault them for a second.

And to wrap this up. I just want to wish him a Happy Birthday tomorrow and all the love I have to offer. He deserves it and so much more after putting up with me for 13 years and 3 pregnancies. He’s practically a saint.