My Sweet Husband…

He really is a pretty great guy. Twenty-two years knowing him, tells me so. My husband, well, has two prominent personalities to him: Old Guy and Young Dude. Of course, I prefer Young Dude.

Young Dude is playful, joking, full of laughter and excitement, even unpredictable and abundantly full of motivation. Old Guy, is tired and lazy, inept for conversation, at times grumpy or just way too serious. Yes, I prefer Young Dude.

When Young Dude comes out to play, I am on board with the fun! Young Dude wants to ride the quad, go out to dinner with friends, sings along to the radio and goes out to catch Pokémon. Yes, Pokémon people. I don’t judge him for it. He enjoys it while meeting new people. He speaks of the happenings of the game almost obsessively and I pretend to remain interested in all of it, acting like I completely understand and am interested in the entire concept. Honestly, I could not care less. But the guy is happy and social. Seeing my husband happy, makes me happy and means he is motivated, which makes me even happier! When he is motivated, things around here seem to get done more expeditiously. The mode of the household exudes fun! This is not rocket science. Admittedly, I am taking clear advantage of these situations. I can live with that.

Old Guy at times makes me feel like I am married to a man with one foot in the grave already. He is utterly boring. It is at these times, I make plans to shop, get a pedicure with friends, or even wash the drapes. This is his time to grumble and complain, when he chooses to speak. The boys and I are not huge fans of Old Guy. The reason is presumably obvious to everyone, except Old Guy of course.

My husband is currently on a major Pokémon phase each day, full of smiles, a chipper swagger, while not missing a beat to provide me the appropriate quota of affectionately calling me, “Mama”. This is his way to assure me I still trump the Pokémon, therefore his absence to go and, “catch them all”, is better overlooked. At this point, I am okay with realizing the man is schmoozing for approval to go catch Pokémon, and not like some absent husbands that prefer to go drinking at a bar.

I mean the man has downloaded some App on his phone that entails a local discussion forum of what is referred to as, “nests”. When the forum announces a nest nearby, my husband is like a fireman, leaving for the call. To unite with the team to catch the big one. About a half hour later, he returns, reporting his loss or his win. It is mainly his loss, to which I provide a look that displays deep regret and utter despair on his behalf, followed with a, “you’ll get it next time honey”, in my most supportive tone I can muster. This way, I present myself as the interested and understanding wife, and he becomes engaging in his own right and motivated to dust that high shelf I had asked him to do a month ago that I couldn’t reach.

This is how marriage must work at times. Sure, I could bitch and nag but what would be the point? How would that benefit either of us?  He used to Geocache, then frisbee golf, had some other obsession or two, and now this. I like Young Dude and his obsessions, he makes things happen.

It is during the presence of Young Dude, I find it irresistible to adopt another fur baby. But I won’t let him know that. Old guy could potentially reappear. We don’t like him very much.