14 Days of Kent: Day 11

This may surprise a few people, but Kent is a man. That's right, a man, and I love that about him. Sure, that may mean that I have to deal with a few more unsavory noises and smells, but in the end it's all worth it. As the man of the house, Kent gets assigned some pretty dirty jobs, but he takes it all in stride. 

For instance, Kent is the resident bug-crusher/remover. I like to think I'm fairly brave, but there is something about the unblinking stare of a spider or other gross insect that really creeps me out. So if I walk into the bathroom or down in the basement and am greeted by something nasty, I just yell for Kent and he comes to take care of it for me. He may laugh a little at me while he does it, but if I don't have to get close to touching it, he can laugh all he wants. That is one of the setbacks of staying at home now, if I encounter something creepy-crawly during the day, Kent isn't here to save me...And don't get me started on snakes in the garden...{shiver}

Kent also comes to my rescue for other "yucky" incidents, like floaters in the bathtub. It's unfortunate, but it happens. It hasn't happened recently, but in the past I would be letting Hendrik play in the tub when all of a sudden he would get much too quiet. You know that quiet where every parent hears clanging alarm bells in their head? When I looked over to check on him, there it was...seriously gross. So I would snatch Hendrik out of the tub and call for Kent: "Kent, I need help!" And within a minute he would be upstairs taking care of the problem for me. I'm serious, the man deserves a reward.

He is also the one that is brave enough to check out strange noises in the middle of the night. Or if I wake up from a bad dream, I just inch closer to his side of the bed and I immediately feel safer. He fixes things. He builds things. He takes out the trash. He shovels the snow (a lot of it recently). He does the majority of heavy lifting. We have this pretty awesome arrangement where he carries all the laundry down to the basement, washes it, and brings it back up for me to fold. Once folded, I shove the basket to the bottom of the stairs and he carries it back up. I think this originally started when I was pregnant with Hendrik, but I'm really grateful he still does it on a regular basis.

And Kent is not "too manly" to do more of the domestic chores around the house. He cooks a number of meals and is really great at making waffles, which I love. He certainly makes work in the kitchen more fun and is SO much better at getting Hendrik involved than I am. He's not worried about making a mess, or a measurement not being quite right, and Hendrik has a blast. Granted, I've never seen him don an apron, but I bet if he did, it would look super hot. Dishes are another activity they do together. Kent will fill up the sink with warm soapy water and while he's cleaning things off, Hendrik gets to play. By the end, Hendrik is almost always soaked through, but he's enjoyed himself so much, it's a small price to pay.  

I love that Kent is the manly-man he is, even with some of the not-so-pleasant side effects of that (Kent, you know what I'm talking about). I'm grateful that my son has an excellent example of how to help out, how to love your wife, and how to love your children. I'm grateful that even though he works hard all day, he comes home and wants to do more than just loaf on the couch and yell out demands.