Divide, conquer, vacuum

Every relationship shares certain responsibilities, but there are also divisions of labor. I’m always fascinated by how couples divvy up jobs.

Charles was hands down our technical guru. I wouldn’t even attempt to make tv’s, computers, or new inventions like iPods (hard to believe now, but pretty new before he died) work. I could just point and go "unnhhhh" and he’d make my technological wish come true. He also handled the yard, the cars, and mechanical house stuff. Charles was a good shopper and very picky about his clothes so I graciously let him handle a lot of that - and all the ironing :)

On the other hand, paperwork and bills and bank reconciliations were poison to him. Meal planning and making the bed was just an exercise in futility. It wasn’t just that all these things were too much detail. He really didn’t care. So what if the bank balance was off a few cents? Who cares what time you figure out what’s cooking for dinner? And that bed is surely going to have to be made up again tomorrow. Of course, part of sorting out who does what was knowing we could count on each other. I knew my car would always run and he knew our bills were always paid. It’s a trust thing, and one of the things you miss when you lose that partnership.

But I’d forgotten one assignment until I ran across this photo. It made me laugh out loud, a reminder that keeping the coat of our very thick-haired rescue dog under control was another job Charles took on. It was typical of him to reinvent the process and I don’t know which is cuter – him vacuuming sweet Millie or her going along with it in total dog trust. Miss these crazy kids!