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I Ironed His Handkerchiefs
However, he cleaned the litter box
I remember telling an acquaintance about how I ironed my husband’s handkerchiefs. She immediately got this look of disgust.
“How can you do that?” she asked.
“It’s simple,” I said. “You turn on the iron…”
“No,” she said, “that’s not what I meant.”
You see, she thought, because I ironed his handkerchiefs, that I was somehow a slave to the patriarchy. Meanwhile, her own marriage was a study in bowing to the man, but I never brought up how people in glass houses should not throw stones.
If my friend had known that my mother used to iron my Dad’s handkerchiefs, she would have really had a conniption, since apparently I was perpetuating the cycle of abuse. Except, of course, that wasn’t the case at all.
You see, I don’t have any problem with women doing nice things for men as long as it’s reciprocal.
There is nothing wrong with making your man feel good about himself, with giving him support, and, yes, doing little chores for him that make his life better. This makes him feel loved, and if you actually do love him, how is that a bad thing?
What my friend didn’t know, but which I explained to her — my husband cleaned the litter box. He took out…