December is always a landmark month for my husband and I. Not because of Christmas, we don’t really celebrate it by exchanging gifts the way most families do. No, December is a significant month for us because two of our daughters were born this month, within 4 days of each other, and less than a week before Christmas no less.

I’ll never forget the Christmas Eve two days after the Girl was born. I had spent several long hours in our bedroom two days before pushing her out. I was obviously tired and sore and couldn’t do much more than lie on the couch and stare at the dirty floor wishing someone would vacuum.

We had plans for some of our very favorite friends in the whole world to come over for dinner on Christmas Eve, and while I was in no condition to get up and cook or clean to get ready I was really looking forward to seeing them.

Enter my knight in shining armor.

He tidied, entertained our 2 year old, bundled up our perfect pink little newborn girl out for a walk to show her off so I could have some mommy time with the Boy, and he cooked a turkey.

He is a pretty good cook but he had never tackled turkey before. He used Thai seasonings and the results were spectacular. It was the best turkey any of us had ever eaten. (I put the recipe here last year.) He and our friends cleaned up while I stayed on the couch with our newborn, some tea, and some great chocolate.

Since then at least once during the holiday season we recreate the meal he invented that December five years ago.

But the most memorable part of that month is something that happened two days after.

The midwife arrived to check on the Baby and me at the same time as my Doula stopped by to do the same. (A lovely aspect of home birth in Canada.) She asked how I was doing and eventually asked if I would be getting some help around the house soon. (My mother was due to arrive in a few more days.)

I told her how thoughtful my husband was being and how he was getting everything done, but confided that I was going a little bit crazy because the carpet still wasn’t clean enough and the counters hadn’t been wiped down in almost a week. That started off a round of laughter and animated discussion during which we talked the way most women do about how men just don’t get it. They think they are finished washing the dishes even though the counters are still a mess for example. “I think it’s that they just don’t see it.” my midwife ventured at one point. “They just don’t realize it’s there.”

I didn’t think my husband was around to hear this conversation. I would not have said any of those things to him because I was really grateful for the way he was helping out. He must have overheard because a few hours later he brought me a drink and said, “The Boy is ready for bed, the dishes are washed,” here he paused significantly, “and the counters are wiped down.”

And he’s been wiping them ever since.

Carrien tells more stories at her blog she laughs at the days. This week she’ll be live blogging her slow loss of sanity as she plans birthdays for two little girls, attends/hosts a fundraiser for the nonprofit organization her husband and she have started, and gets ready to go to Mexico this weekend to throw a Christmas party in 2 orphanages there for the kids.

photos by midiman, jennifrog