When I was in college, I worked one summer as a custodian. For part of the summer, this entailed spending 20 to 40 hours a week tending a residence hall—vacuuming, dusting, mopping, sweeping, cleaning, etc.
One day I was cleaning the windows on the top floor when I noticed there was something on the balcony, something that I wouldn’t be sweeping off—a dead bird.
“Oh man,” I thought. “Somebody’s gonna have to take care of that. Who do I call?”
It took me about three seconds to realize—crap. I was the one they were supposed to call.
I feel this way a lot of the time as a mother. “Dang, this is the fourth time a child has cried between the hours of 2 and 3 AM. Somebody had better—oh yeah.”
When you’re the mom, the buck stops here—you have the ultimate responsibility in the households. Now, the exact division of labor varies, but a lot of the time, this means that if the baby is crying, the dinner is waiting or the cat is puking, somebody is calling “MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!” because it’s your job to fix it. (I totally pass the buck on the cat vomit though.)
And a lot of the time, all I want to do is call “MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!” because I don’t want to do any of those things! (I guess my mom probably doesn’t either, LOL.)
But the buck stops here. I’m the one they call; I’m the one who takes care of the tears, the food, the cleaning and the dead bird. (Garbage bag turned inside out and gloves, in case you’re wondering.)
What chores or crises would you pass the buck on, if you could?
4 replies on “Who you gonna call? The buck stops here.”
LOL!!!! SUCH a true post! If Eric gets up with Gwen in the middle of the night he falls asleep in lecture. Since we’re paying oodles of dough for Med school, he has big tests every 3 weeks, and the boards are only months away… we decided it wasn’t the best idea for him to take middle of the night concerns except on weekends (which I LOVE!!!). So Gwen had her 2 month shots Tuesday… and Wednesday day and night was a struggle for her, poor thing. I would pass the buck on gettin up every 2 hours if I could. I love sleep so much…
As far as chores go, I’d pass on bathroom cleaning and early breakfast duty. Crises would have to be cleaning up vomit, and getting rid of spiders (dead or alive, but especially alive). I’d also love to pass on the rare stuff like dead animals, ER injuries, etc. But since they’re so rare, I have an (for lack of a better word) easier time dealing with those than with the daily stuff I’d rather not do.
Part of me loves that I’m the go to guy and part of me despises it. For instance, I love that they yell “mommy” when they need hugs or help and I hate that they cry “mommy” when they’re in the hospital and there’s nothing I can do to make them feel better.
I read your story likes it my life. My son is in the terrible two’s. He wants to be carried all the time, pitches fits, and on top of it…refuses to sleep in his own bed.
Yeah, I remember the sinking feeling when you (Jordan) were born that the buck that would be “stopping here” had just gotten a LOT bigger…
In retrospect, of course, the pluses hugely outweighed the minuses ( what minsuses ? )
Dad