Man Maid

The bedroom, like many other rooms in the family household, has been the woman’s purview due to greater interest and facility in all thing related to interior design. Not saying men can’t take an interest in these kinds of things, just that in general, they don’t. Women are very likely to want to continue calling the shots for how things ought to be done. However, even here a man can score a victory or two. One of the “domestic epiphanies” my wife had was realising that I was far more adept at all things related to making beds.

Not only did I actually make the bed every morning, which is a big “luxury” in a husband if you happen to be a working mother, but over time she came to reluctantly accept that I was better at it than she was. Now, of course, I had an advantage here. I worked as a hotel maid throughout high school. No screwing around on that job. When you’ve got to deal with hundreds of beds a day you get reasonably good at it.

My wife was particularly impressed that I could single-handedly put the quilt in the quilt cover. The first time she saw me attempt to do this she used her default position as the manager of the household to practically insist that we do it together. To say that she was sceptical of my ability to do it alone would be the understatement of the millennium.  But this time I put my foot down. I knew it could be done and it would have been silly for me to give in.

Once she saw me do this I earned a whole new respect in the bedroom, to the point where I am actually allowed to choose the sheets and bedcovers when it’s time to change them. Initially she’d overrule my choices and switch to another set of sheets or quilt cover. But this switching required extra work on her part, and that’s what she was trying to do less not more of. Over time I noticed that my decisions became increasingly acceptable to her, to the point where she completely relinquished her veto power.