My Husband Says I'm Making Him Fat!

Winter makes us pudgy. I don't get out and run like I should. Rick doesn't get to play golf. And we eat lots of comfort foods.

So in response to this, Rick asked me to do the unthinkable ... not fix him dinner at night! What? Isn't that what a wife is supposed to do? Isn't a wife supposed to prepare her husband a meal to eat when he gets home from working a long day?

What he really meant was this: When he gets home in the evenings he's really not hungry. But, I've prepared a meal and he isn't one to turn down food. So, he eats and then is miserable the rest of the evening and isn't getting any exercise to burn it off. If we ate meals later in the evening, that would probably alleviate that problem. But, that doesn't work very well for us.

I told him that, in good conscience, I could not just not fix an evening meal. I don't want me and the kids to get into the habit of eating convenience foods. I want them to have a healthy meal. And, I don't get to eat anything good during the day so I look forward to the meals I fix for dinner. But I did tell him that I am willing to change what I cook to be more kid-friendly, things they enjoy, and not worry about him eating it. In turn I want him to know that it won't hurt my feelings if he doesn't want to eat what I have prepared for dinner. And, the kids are usually starving between 4:30 and 5:00 p.m., so I'll just have dinner prepared and ready for them to eat by 5:00 p.m., and it will likely be cleaned up and put away by the time he gets home from work anyway.

He told me that he would prefer to have some kind of breakfast prepared for him. And then if there are leftovers from the night before, he can take that in his lunch or I can make him a lunch of sandwiches and stuff.

I don't mind doing that.

That brings up the topic of just doing things "our way" without worrying about what we think we "should be" doing. This has become a big deal to me lately. For instance, what is wrong with handling meals this way if it's what works for our family? In fact, it will probably make Rick's arrival in the evenings smoother because I won't be in the middle of fixing dinner, the kids won't be starving and cranky, and he can come in and just spend time with us instead of walking into a rushed around mess!

No we're not eating a meal together as a family. But, we are never very successful at it anyway. There. Stress gone.

We like to sit and watch t.v. together in the evenings anyway. That's how we spend time together. Naysayers would say that is wrong. Who cares what they say. It works for us and draws us closer together.

There are so many of "those things" we are told that marriages should do and families should do to be successful and thriving. But shouldn't we just do the things together that make us happy and stress free and that express love and devotion to each other? Yes.

So, in response to the request of my husband, I will be changing our meals around. I am kind of excited about it. It's a change. It's something new. It gets me out of a rut.

You'll have to stick around to see how it works out. My Menu Plan Monday will look different starting in a couple of weeks (I already have meals planned and purchased through February 4th, so we'll keep doing the norm until then.)

Now to research some yummy, easy breakfast foods and kid-friendly healthy dinners.