This is for all the men out there, you know who you are; you jumped from mama’s house into marriage thinking it was one and the same thing. Your mother had you convinced the sun rose and set on your smiling face and she happily followed you from the front door to the back room picking up the mass of unwashed, stinking sweaty clothing you dropped on your way to the X-Box.
From the time of your birth, through your angst ridden teens and into your adulthood you were petted and pampered, your butt was cleaned with only the softest towels, your plate was filled twice before being left in the sink for someone else to scrape and place in the dishwasher. Your clothing was washed, folded and put neatly away, when it could be found in the piles you left throughout the house. As if you were paying for five star
Images via Google....Who said Freud was Wrong
accommodations, your sheets and towels were regularly changed. Yes, indeed your mother treated you well and it is likely you didn’t have to do a thing in return other than the occasional “Love you Mom” which made her day.
Now that we have established you are the end all be all, the light at the end of the tunnel, the crème in the coffee, the marshmallows in the hot chocolate; you are all that and a bag of chips truly you are. Now that we have correctly identified moms view let’s disabuse you of this inflated ego of yours.
While it may be hard for you to hear, your mom lied. You are none of those things, not a single one except to your mother who has no choice but to believe them. She was provided with maternal instincts to prevent her from eating her own young, this instinct allows her to see past all of your flaws and continue to love you. Further, as your mother she instinctively wishes you cling to her and will find fault with any mate you choose. Because of this, she has quite naturally raised you without the necessary skills and competencies you need to be a successful mate, thus assuring your return to the nest.
Things your mother didn’t tell you about women.
Our happiness is directly connected to whether we feel heard, specifically by you.
Our happiness is directly connected to whether we believe we are being partnered and cared for.
Our happiness is directly connected to whether you are fully participating in our marriage.
What does this mean? What didn’t your mother tell you? What did you miss while you were being coddled and convinced your farts didn’t stink?
Women’s libidos, big word I know, are directly tied to their emotions. When we are happy, we are far more likely to be horny or at least receptive to your clumsy overtures. If we feel particularly cared for, particularly loved, we might even initiate an evening of hot sweaty sex with you.
Image from Newswire....Happy Women say Yes more Often
Your mother failed to tell you that about women and the link between sex and emotional happiness, didn’t she? The thing your mother lied about was what women really want from their man! She probably didn’t tell you about chocolate either, that is something for a different day though.
This is the big lie, the one thing your mother didn’t ever tell you.
You don’t have to love the things we love. Indeed, we don’t expect you will love everything we love, after all, you are a man and we are women. We are by our very nature designed differently and our mothers raised us differently from the time we were born. All we ask is for you to love us enough to try to meet us half way.
Mother’s lies you need to unlearn:
- It isn’t unmanly to do the dishes, push a vacuum or make the bed when you are the last one out.
- It doesn’t make you less of a man to put the toilet seat down.
- It doesn’t undermine your manhood to listen to how our day went without telling us how to fix our problems. Honestly? It is unlikely you know more than we do about our jobs so try for simple listening just once.
- You are in no jeopardy of losing your man card if you clean the bathroom now and then without your woman asking. It is surely obvious to you it needs it and if you are the only man in the house, clearly those yellow dribbles down the outside of the bowl aren’t your woman’s misses. Remember your woman doesn’t stand above the bowl playing target practice in the morning.
Your mother didn’t tell you the truth about women.
She didn’t tell you the simplest truth about a happy partnership and that is that it really is a partnership between two grown-ups.
If your biggest complaint about the woman in your life is the sex stopped after marriage, you need to stop and think about what else changed. Ask yourself why. Is your woman getting what she needs? What are you doing or not doing. Do the words “that is women’s work” ever trip over your tongue? Worse yet do you find yourself uttering these mood killers, ‘I never did that when I lived at home’, if the answer is yes then you know why your sex life is like the Sahara and you have only yourself and your mother to blame.
This isn’t mama’s house and the sun no longer rises and sets on your happy ass. Your wife isn’t your house servant, she is your partner not your mother. Want a happy marriage? Get with the program and start listening even to those things she might not be saying to you, this means listen with your heart now and then. Try to determine what your wife needs from you, maybe even what she wants but is tired of telling you and as Nike says ‘just do it’ without being asked.
Your mother lied.
She probably didn’t lie with malice. She lied because she wanted to keep you close; it is the nature of mothers. Now you need to man up and be the husband she didn’t intend you to be so your wife has the husband she deserves and your future sons have an example to follow in the future.
QBG_Tilted Tiara 
HA HA HA HA HA! I loved this. I am NOT married to a momma’s boy and didn’t raise any either, but I know men like this. My father was an only child until he was in his 20s, and he did nothing wrong. My poor mom!!!!! Now that she’s gone, he’s learning to do a lot of things though. I especially liked the part about women and the emotional connection — very true. I have a husband who ‘fixes’ things all day at work, guess what he wants to do at home? I just say, “shut up and listen” and he does. Anyway, good post and very astute.
I truly believe it is a switch in their heads, we say guess what happened at work to day and that switch flips to on. Like you I say “shut up and listen”. My husband is the only ‘man child’ and was spoiled by his mom and two sisters but after a decade+ he is learning 😉
Morning coffee and this. What a treat. I can’t wait to read through your other posts.
Thanks 😉
That’s amazing! It should be plaster up everywhere for the world to see!!
Thanks, I suspect we all feel underneath all the hard work of marriage we don’t speak up. The problem is, I suspect our partners feel the same way. There is always two sides I however can only speak to one of them.
Glad you enjoyed it Hellen. Hope you will come back and read further.
Thanks Linda. As the day progressed, I was reminded that I’m not perfect. Sometimes I don’t listen to my wife’s problems because they seem miniscule to the probs that I already have. Guess I need to learn that everyone should have a supportive place to vent.
In our imperfections Grant is where we learn best. It is also where we gain our greatest strength, through humility.
All men should read this . . . regularly . . . maybe on each anniversay. My personal favorite (and I’m glad to see you covered it here) . . . Listen without telling us how to fix our problems, especially in areas they have limited experience in or knowledge of. Men do it all the time . . . Oh to be able to whine about something without hearing, “You should just do yada yada yada.” This might be the first article on the subject where I have seen the issue mentioned.
Kudos, great post.
Yes Miss Demure, I think all men want to help us. I don’t think it is because they think we are stupid (usually) I think it is simply in their nature to want to throw their cloak across the puddle to ensure we don’t get our delicate feet dirty. Me? I want to now and then play in the mud. Thanks for stopping in.
Linda, I truly enjoyed reading your insight into the male ego. My mother was, and still is, an extraordinary woman. She raised me with all the tender mercies that a child deserves. With that being said, she raised me to be a MAN. As long as I remember, I had to clean my room, wash my clothes, rake the yard, cut the grass, wash dishes ( and if not clean, rewash), repair my own clothing, etc. Granted, their aren’t many Mom’s like this anymore, but I just wanted you to know that SOME of us were raised right. My Mom raised me to care for myself ( with or without a woman). And my wife taught me to put down the toilet seat. I have been trained well. Thank you for your insight, I just don’t like being stereotyped. I don’t think you do either. Grant
P.S. I like to cook also!
Grant you are right, I don’t like stereotyping. Unfortunately you are a rare one as is your mother. Kudos to both of you on jobs well done. My version of the world of men and women, along with MIL’s comes from years of watching my own and my friends as we traverse that rocky road of trying to find our place with partners and their mothers, all to often coming out on the short end of the measuring stick. By the way I have several brothers who didn’t fare any better, certainly not as well as you with mother love and upbringing. So, I can only write from my own experience and observations. I hope though, you will see the humor in what I write along with the angst.
Yes, Linda I did and thank you for opening my heart as well as my eyes and ears.
All the men out there truly need to read this and fast. Talk about the straw that broke the camel’s back, well this one is it. AMAZING WHAT WE CAN LEARN IF WE TRY.
Thanks Jim, glad you enjoyed it and perhaps found something to take home ;=)
Thank you, my lovely sister. You nailed this one, as always.
Red.
Ah Red don’t we all just suffer our failure to impress gladly? No? Dang
Oh, sister, be of good cheer, for I have a surprise for you and your new blog coming tomorrow. Meet me on the line or in the inbox for the 411. I see you are already in good company. We will have this place hopping in a second. *Evil Grin*