Friday, June 3, 2011

Honey Dun Did the Honey Do


It was one of
t h o s e
days.
The kinda' day where everything that
could go wrong
does go wrong.

My keyboard stopped working correctly.

This is how it interpreted my typing.

aves


Our


Kids…………………………………………………………………….nk,


They


Won't


Drink……………………………………………………………………..ear,


They


Won't swear……………………………………………………………………….e


The


Word,




Not cool for a woman who's #1 love language
is computer language.
I carefully unscrewed a few screws and took the keyboard apart
enough to clean it out.

I discovered a  battery had exploded.

Using a bajillion q-tips and rubbing alcohol,
I carefully cleaned the entire keyboard. 
It took over an hour.

An hour I really didn't have to spare.

When it still didn't work,
I figured it was some dumb little lever or button
my hubby would touch and it would magically work again.

That usually happens.

So I waited until he came home,
expecting my keyboard to be good as new shortly.

He didn't pry it apart as carefully as I did.

His screwdriver became a class one lever
and  he sent pieces flying everywhere.
Safety goggles should have been worn.


He wasn't paying attention, either.


Doesn't he know that men aren't good at multi-tasking?


He dun broke it.


Yea, "OOPS" is an understatement.

My keyboard wouldn't even repeat letters.
It couldn't even throw in kajillions of extra periods.

I realized I was at an important crossroads in our marriage.

If I criticized him too much,
even if I spoke the truth, 
he wouldn't feel motivated to fix my dryer
that also broke that day.
He certainly wouldn't go for broke on the entire
Honey-Do List.


If I praised him too much,
he might be over-confident
and fix my dryer the same way he fixed my keyboard.

So, I went for middle ground.

I thanked him for trying.
Husbands like to be fed honest appreciation and praise.

Like with kids,
effort has to count.

Remember that.

Effort, not just outcome, counts.

With laugher, and an online order for a new keyboard,
we headed downstairs.



I was called back to admire his handiwork.

An important little piece had broken off,
so he pulled the guts forward,
clamped it.



Now, once you turn it on,
it's always on,
even when you open the door.

You shut it off by turning the button to off.

It's a bit red-neck,but it works.
It really, really works.

Since I don't want to buy a new dryer until I
absolutely have to
I was thrilled.

I didn't have to take the middle ground this time,
I really praised my honey,
who dun did two things on my Honey-Do List.

5 comments:

  1. Great advice! I need to go for middle ground more often :) Glad you got the dryer fixed at least. Your dryer is like my dishwasher, it is hanging on by a thread, LOL ;)

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  2. ...and he worked on the honey-do list with a smile on his face. :) Way to go, Scott!
    Sorry about the keyboard, Mindy. Getting a new one stinks, throws off my typing something awful for a week or two.

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  3. Hey if it works it works!...lol love your dryer. from your comment you left me....You live near Seattle???? I live in Kent and if you ever need good directions to W. Seattle let me know, I go there as much as I can since I love to walk the path on Alki beach. I have an extra key board I can give you if you need one. I don't even know why I have extras but I do.I was going to throw one away but kept it.I to aim for middle ground when my husband is working on things sometimes...lol

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  4. I love it! Him and Luke should hang out more, they will get along GREAT! Hope your weekend goes smooth. Can't wait to hear what you ended up cooking!

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  5. Oh yes... how could I forget such handiwork! Good memories from Seattle

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