"Real" Men Do Housework & Help with The Kids

The other day at work in the break room I heard a woman, probably in her late 30's, telling someone else how her boyfriend helps her with housework and cooking chores, takes care of things and even helps with her kids and how much she appreciated it, but didn't expect it.

She said she had previously been married for 13 years to her kids' father and he never helped with anything and that was one of the main reasons she got divorced.

The person she was having the conversation with was listening and also conveying to her how much he loved his wife and would do anything for her, because he loves her.

This man was huge, probably about 6' 5" weighing close to 300 pounds. His stature in my opinion does not make him a man, but the way he treats his wife, indeed, does.

What was even more astonishing - after I joined the conversation, telling her how my husband of 27 years, too, helps me with housework and takes care of so many things with the kids and treats me like a queen, and how lucky I am - was that she told me her boyfriend's friends give him so much grief about helping her!

Long story short, this guy's friends think helping a woman makes him less of a man and he endures endless razzing about it.

This makes me wonder number one, "what are most men thinking?" and number two, "how can some men be so clueless as to what makes a man a real man AND what makes a woman happy?"

If they only knew that most women, moms, and girlfriends really want is to get help from their man without asking for it or nagging, would they just give of themselves more freely to create a happier relationship?

This shows a woman that you love her more than anything. And, in my humble opinion, is what makes a man strong.

This is not to say that you should sit around and let your man do everything for you! A great relationship is never without problems and stress at times but helping each other willingly makes it easier for sure.

When someone offers us help, it is human nature to want to return the favor. One of the biggest human needs is to feel appreciated. My husband and I always make little gestures of appreciation to each other such as saying "thank you for making dinner tonight", or "thanks for cleaning those dishes, that helped me out a lot."

The above statements might sound silly to you or like saying them wouldn't work to change things if you're in a relationship that is suffering from one or the other of you keeping a score card, such as, "well I did this, and you never did that...!," But surprisingly enough, if you just do small kindnesses for each other and show you appreciate your mate, things between you can be wonderful.