Mere Male Moments…

One of the memories I have of going to visit my Babcia (Grandma) when I was younger is reading her magazines. I had no interest in many of the articles, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading the mere male and the children's world columns. This was where people wrote in with anecdotes about what funny things the men or children in their lives had done.

Already in 2011 my delightful husband has given me a few moments of his own!

Mere Male Moment Number 1


Our first ever family holiday was taken at the end of January, and, because I had a meeting on the day we had to leave, it was up to Mark to pack the car.

I tried to make it easy for him - I packed my own bag and I also stacked all of Mason's belongings in one pile for easy transfer to the car. The pile had disposable nappies at the bottom, with towels, spew rags, bedding and clothes piled on top.

Also in piles near our front door were things from my 2011 in 2011 decluttering that were waiting to leave our house. One of those things was a bag that I have slowly been contributing to for our friends who are expecting their first child. It had newborn disposable nappies, flannelette nappies, snibs, some clothes and some baby carriers. The night before we left for our holidays I was still contributing more belongings to this bag, and made a point of explaining to Mark what this second bag was for. He nodded to indicate his understanding… or so I thought.

Fast forward to the next day and Mark picks Mason and I up from my meeting and there in the boot was the bag for our friends. I asked Mark why he had packed it.

"It has the nappies". 

"Did you pack the disposable nappies I had in Mason's pile?"

"No."

"Why Not?" 

"Because I assumed you'd doubled up and decided to just pack the bag instead". 

At this point I pulled them out of the bag and showed him how tiny they were. Did he really think they were going to fit Mason? 

"I didn't look that closely"

And why on earth would I have packed flannelette nappies? 

"I don't know". 

And why would I have packed two baby carriers? 

"I don't know, I took those out because I didn't think we'd need them". 

Humph. 

Cue trip to supermarket to buy more nappies. Note to self: a nod does not necessarily indicate understanding.

Edit 06/02/11: Mark has now read the above and would like to point out that the bag for our friends and the pile for our holiday were adjacent to each other, hence the confusion. I in turn would like to point out that I asked Mark to get a bag out of the garage the night before so I could pack Mason's things, but the bag never appeared. I would also like to reiterate that I explained that the bag next to Mason's pile was for our friends, not for the car. I would also like to ponder how absurd it would have been for me to half pack a bag and then make a pile next to it. Supreme laziness would be the only explanation, and, while I admit I can be lazy at times, to make a pile next to a bag rather than just put the things in the bag is crazy. Lastly there is the fact that Mark looked through the bag and removed things from said bag that he knew we didn't need prior to packing it in the car. Why would I have packed those things in the first place if we didn't need them?!!!! Males and females think very differently...


Second Edit 06/02/11: Mark would now like to point out that there was time pressure on the day and that he was at home alone doing the packing. I won't mention that I had made him a checklist to follow and he had 4 hrs (and actually took 5 and was almost 2 hrs late picking me up from my meeting!) I will mention that he did clean the kitchen though so that it didn't stink when we returned from our holiday. That was not on the list and was an excellent decision. 


I wonder if I will have to make any more edits to this?!


Mere Male Moment Number 2


Today we had Mason's first swimming lesson for the year. I got myself ready and packed the nappy bag for after the swim while Mark packed the swimming bag and got himself ready (he goes in the water with Mason for the lessons). We leave in a hurry (as is standard for us!) and when we arrive at the pool Mark looks around the car and says "don't tell me I forgot the swimming bag." 

He hadn't put it in the car. 

So we have no swim nappy for Mason and Mark has no change of clothes for after the swim. We had no time to go home and get the bag, as it is a 20 - 30 minute round trip, so we had to improvise. 

We still had a beach towel and a bathroom towel in the car from our holiday (YAY! Our laziness pays off for once!). I then asked at the pool whether they had swim nappies for sale - they did. Disposable for $2 or reusable for $20, but they were out of disposable. I decided to ask random strangers on pool deck if they had spare swim nappies, which they didn't, and many looked at me like I was daft. In the end Mason made it into the water 10 minutes late wearing a brand new and very pretty swim nappy in a delightful pale pink that we bought from the pool! 

Mark is on his own next week, as I start work next Saturday. Needless to say I don't think the swim bag will be forgotten. Ever again!