11 Things Husbands Who Don't Know How Good They Have It Seriously Take For Granted
You don't always know how good you have it, do you fellas?
Kues / Shutterstock All too often, husbands don't know just how good they have it, and when that's the case, there are many things they seriously take for granted regarding their wives and their marriages. For example, a couple of months ago, I met a man who was 'blindsided' by his divorce. Or rather, the truth is that he didn’t see it coming.
His wife kept warning him she was leaving and that he would need to get used to doing his chores. After the first week of being alone, he was scrambling to get her back, but it wasn’t because he missed her. It was because he didn’t realize how much she did for him until it was too late. If you’re like him, start counting your blessings.
These are 11 things husbands who don't know how good they have it seriously take for granted
1. Living in a clean home
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Let’s start with the most obvious bit of “freebie” that many husbands get the moment they start living with their wives: cleaning. Statistically speaking, women still do the majority of the housework in almost all pairings.
When a woman leaves, most men are shocked to see how much extra housework they have to do. It’s not easy to keep all that laundry neat and folded, is it?
2. Childcare
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Did you see the multiple Reddit threads involving men leaving to be single dads, only to regret it when they realize how much childcare their exes did? It’s a real phenomenon.
Children are incredibly time-consuming, and way too many guys are just there for the Kodak moments. When reality hits and they start to have the workload of childcare sink it, many newly-single dads panic.
3. Having enough money to raise kids comfortably
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While many husbands realize that kids cost a lot of money, they may not realize how much their wives contribute to their kids’ well-being. Women are rapidly becoming the de facto family breadwinners, and not just in single-parent homes, either.
A lot of men might really feel a woman’s absence in their wallet, and not in the way that old school jokes might have you believe.
4. Their active social life
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With men becoming increasingly isolated in today’s society, more men than ever before have started to rely on their wives for social interactions. The social safety net of a husband is often the one built up by the wife.
Many men bond through solo activities, or mostly-solo activities like gaming. In-person moments are mostly coordinated through the wife, although this is actually potentially harmful for men’s health.
Men game online, which isn’t the same as in-person activities. She’s the one sending out Christmas cards and calling up people, not him. As men grow increasingly isolated, women end up picking up the slack once more.
5. Holiday cheer
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While we’re on the topic of social moments, let’s talk about the bigger social moments we share: the holidays. In the vast majority of homes, women are typically the ones in charge of cooking, cleaning, and decorating for holidays.
You might forget that all those Christmas cookies don’t get delivered by elves, but your wife remembers making them all the time. You might forget the hours spent coordinating holiday parties, but your wife probably doesn’t.
If your husband does this stuff alongside you? Ladies, you have a saintly man. It’s a lot of extra work.
6. Not having to make medical appointments or keep records
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Did you know that a large percentage of dads can’t recall the name of their child’s primary care practitioner? Or their medications? Some married men don’t even know what medicine they, themselves, take. This isn’t a shocker to doctors. Over 60% of men avoid going to a medical practitioner for any reason.
More often than not, it’s the wife who ends up doing all this for the whole family. If your wife is the one who sets up doctors’ appointments and keeps your prescriptions filled, you might not realize how much extra work that is.
7. Always having fresh food available at home
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Unless you’ve been hitting up Instacart and DoorDash for your meals, someone had to do the grocery shopping. In most families, shopping ends up being the role of the wife. The same can be said for cooking, though that’s starting to change.
Either way, most women end up being the reason why there’s ample food in the kitchen and why meals are planned out. Husbands forget how much good meal prep can take until their wives are out for a vacation.
8. Not having to take care of their pets
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While we’re on the topic of caregiving, let’s talk about one of the less-mentioned tasks that often gets pushed onto women: pet care. It’s true. Most men love the idea of having a dog or a cat or even a tarantula at home.
When push comes to shove, studies show that women tend to be the ones who end up taking care of the pets in a home. In fact, as much as 75% of all pets end up having women as primary caretakers. So even if you don’t miss your wife’s work, Fido sure will.
9. Not having to deal with the task of paying bills
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Though the money for the bills might come from either the husband, the wife, or both parties, bill-paying activities often end up being a matter that falls squarely into the wife’s workload.
Keeping an eye on those bills, negotiating lower rates, and even making sure to pay them on time are all part of a major workload. That job (or those jobs) tend to fall on women’s shoulders more often than not.
10. Affection
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Most men tend to joke about the days of intimacy grinding to a halt after a wedding happens, but the truth is quite the opposite. Studies show married couples are more likely to have satisfying intimate lives than those who are single.
People often forget what it’s like to feel alone on that level when they still have people around them giving them hugs and kisses. Touch starvation is a major contributor to stress. So, if you have that level of love, treasure it. Not everyone does.
11. Emotional support
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I’ve heard this from plenty of the men around me: for many men, their wives are their only real emotional support. Without their wives, they have no one to give them that hug, that pep talk, or even an ounce of validation.
Many husbands don’t realize how much this matters until they have a horrible day at work or until they find themselves emotionally spent. That’s the sad, honest truth.
Ossiana Tepfenhart is a writer whose work has been featured in Yahoo, BRIDES, Your Daily Dish, Newtheory Magazine, and others.
