I have a confession to make…
It’s been over 5 years since I’ve swept, mopped or vacuumed a floor, dusted furniture, washed a whole sink full of dishes or done any laundry at all.
Now, before the ladies want to verbally crucify me:
- “how dare you make your wife?”
- “haven’t you heard of equality of the sexes, buddy?”
- “don’t you know it’s 202X?”
...you should know that my wife Mrs. Cubic Zirconia does little to none of this stuff either
(though, frankly, I used to think she still sometimes washed dishes just to irritate me, in truth she says she does for two reasons: to avoid bugs, and on tough work days when she wants to feel accomplished to actually start and finish a task).
If I were to sit down face-to-face with a man wanting to be a great husband…
My advice would be simple.
Start with spending a little money to avoid a lot of stress.
The first thing I’m going to tell him isn’t going to be advice to ‘go to that place’ or ‘buy this’, ‘do that’, ‘be this’ or or ‘don’t do that’.
Nope. Sure, my wife and I own a company that makes and sells high-quality cubic zirconia jewelry. And it’s pretty awesome jewelry, if you ask me. And sure, many of our customers buy our jewelry as a gift for that someone special in his or her life. We appreciate that, too.
But sometimes I think the best two gifts a couple can give EACH OTHER are :
- the permission and circumstances needed for each individual to take TIME ALONE without feeling guilty or creating other unwanted and unintended consequences,
- the time freedom and circumstances for the couple to take TIME TOGETHER without feeling guilty or creating other unwanted and unintended consequences.
Wanna be a great husband?
Start with spending a little money to avoid a lot of stress and buy more time alone-- and more time together.
More time alone.
More time together.
I’d tell that guy…
- When you have time for yourself, you can recharge and be more of the man that won her heart in the first place.
- When she has plenty of time for herself, you feel prioritized and she can miss you and think on how to make the time you have together count.
You’re not a great husband yet if you can manage that in today’s busy world...but it’s a start.
Why is that, exactly?
Well, there are two primary causes for stress in a marriage:
#1 Finances.
#2 Division of household chores.
That’s why if you’re married-- or even just cohabiting-- and you’ve never considered hiring a housekeeper...you should (at least try it out, ok!).
A small sacrifice of finances to take care of any need for a married couple to divide many to most of the undesirable household chores?
My wife Mrs Cubic Zirconia and I decided years ago that whatever it costs to have someone else come into our home to clean a few times a week-- wash the dishes, vacuum, sweep and mop, dust, and help keep things put back where they go-- it was gonna be a great investment not just in our productivity but also in our marriage and mutual sanity, plus our individual leisure time.
Have you tried hiring a housekeeper?
Think of it as a gift to each other.
I’m telling you, dear reader. This is the gift that keeps giving to your relationship over and over, week after week for all the years you’re together.
Please, before you say “But you all are rich!”...
#1 We’re really not rich
According to the United States Census, the 2019 real median full-time, year-round income* of men was $57,456 and women $47,299. Sure, our little shop of diamond deprogrammers is growing-- and we’re fortunate to employ a great team of people that do things we can’t do (or choose not to do-- but frankly, after investments back into our business every month, we each have smaller take-home pay than those “averages”. It surprises even friends of ours, but it’s true that some of our team members do earn more salary than we do.
If we can do it, despite not being “rich”-- others who aren’t super-high-earners can too.
#2 The juice is worth the squeeze
Have you ever heard that phrase? I don’t care if you aren’t a high earner and must pay the housekeeper the same hourly wage you earn. It’s still gonna be worth it for your relationship. If you’ve never tried it, then you don’t understand and maybe nothing I can say will convince you. But it doesn’t mean I’m not telling you 100% truth here.
Because I love the way my wife looks at me when someone else
is doing the laundry, washing the dishes and sweeping/mopping the
floors-- and because if we can’t afford outside help the alternative in
today’s enlightened society would be the two of us sharing that household
drudgery-- I’m going to use this last paragraph while I have your attention to sell
somebody something.
SPECIAL OFFER: Decide to buy a CubicZirconia.com gift card like those shown at this link (any amount you choose), then give us a call U.S. toll-free 1-888-355-2484 during business hours and ask to speak to “the guy who doesn’t do laundry, wash dishes, dust, sweep, mop or vacuum”. If they’re paying attention, our team member answering the phone will know that you don’t really want to talk to me...instead, you’ve just uttered the secret, readers-only code-phrase to get a 15% gift card BONUS on top of the amount you wanted to spend. Yep spend $100 USD and get a gift card for $115; spend $1000 and get $1150 to use. Just tell us the amount you want, and we'll provide you a special purchase link for you to buy your gift-certificate-plus-bonus deal securely online or over the phone.
You’re really cleaning up now...so you won’t mind if for accounting purposes, I do have to limit the 15% bonus part of your gift card purchase to say it must be used within 12 months after purchase. :)
-- Mr. Cubic Zirconia
P.S. If the team member who answers the phone is really confused when you speak the secret readers-only code-phrase...just tell them to give you the special 15% gift certificate bonus offer from Series AF Email #4. That’s a lot more boring, but it’s not your fault if they’re not paying attention!
*Source: 2020 U.S. Census https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2020/demo/p60-270.html
