Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Women's Favorite E-mail of the Year




This, according to my friend, Wafa, was voted Women's Favorite E-mail of the Year!
Read on and tell me if you think this is right or wrong:

A man was sick and tired of going to work every day
while his wife stayed home. He wanted her to see what he went through so he
prayed:
"Dear Lord: I go to work every day and put in 8 hours while my wife merely stays at home. I want her to know what I go through, so please allow her body to switch with mine for a day. Amen."

God, in his infinite wisdom, granted the man's wish.

The next morning, sure enough, the man awoke as a woman. He arose, cooked breakfast for his mate, awakened the kids, set out their school clothes, fed them breakfast, packed their lunches, drove them to school, came home and picked up the dry cleaning, took it to the cleaners and stopped at the bank to make a deposit,
went grocery shopping, and then drove home to put away the groceries, paid the bills and balanced the checkbook. He cleaned the cat's litter box and bathed the dog. Then it was already 1 P.M. and he hurried to make the beds, do the laundry, vacuum, dust, and sweep and mop the kitchen floor. Ran to the school to pick up the kids and got into an argument with them on the way home. Set out milk and cookies and got the kids organized to do their homework, then set up the ironing board and watched TV while he did the ironing.
At 4:30 he began peeling potatoes and washing vegetables for salad, breaded the pork chops and snapped fresh beans for supper.
After supper, he cleaned the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, folded laundry, bathed the kids, and put them to bed.

At 9 P.M. he was exhausted and, though his daily chores weren't finished, he went to bed where he was expected to make love, which he managed to get through without complaint.
The next morning, he awoke and immediately knelt by the bed and said:
Lord, I don't know what I was thinking. I was so wrong to envy my wife's being able to stay home all day. Please, oh please, let us trade back."

The Lord, in his infinite wisdom, replied: "My son… I feel you have learned your lesson and I will be happy to change things back to the way they were. You'll just have to wait nine months though. You got pregnant last night."

I do understand that women have a lot to do at home, but to be fair, all my friends tell me how cooperative their husbands are and how they help them with the house chores and with the kids! I think today's men have grown up to finally believe that it takes more than one to have kids, and it takes more than one to raise them, too!

12 comments:

أبو سنان said...

Ha! That was funny. We have a 15 month old, Sinan, and a 5 month old, Sayf. I wouldnt trade for the world.

Yes, I work 60 hours a week, but at least my job has an end. My wife's job is 24 hours a day.

Stay at home moms are real heros. And it is a choice they make. My wife doesnt have to stay at home, she has finished university and has been accepted for her graduate program, but it is what she decided to do.

My hats off to all such women.

Anonymous said...

I second you Abu Sinan, I salute every woman stays at home and take the real job of raising the new generation which is harder and more vital than any job a man can do

Anonymous said...

It is ALSO a man's job to raise the new generation, and the responsibility for that should not rest solely on the woman.

Staying at home unfotunately, is becoming a luxury that not many women are able to afford in our time. Unfortunately, what happens in our society is that the woman, as decribed in Oula's blog, end doing doing two very real jobs: one that is outside the house, in addition to all the house work.

Staying at home and taking the real job of raising the new generation, unfortunately, is not a paid job. The woman relies economically on her husband, and therefore, gets a weaker voice (in best cases) in household decision making.

Working women also raise the new generation. It is not how much time a PARENT (because it is both parent's job, not only a woman's) spends with children, it is whether this is quality time, and whether it is time spent in doing activities together or having meaningful conversations.

أبو سنان said...

It is an issue. My wife does not get a "weaker voice" in what happens in our house. She is my equal and things are handled at home in this manner.

As to money, it is unfortunate that it is often impossible for one parent to stay home. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that families today demand things that they did not in the past.

In the past such families did not have two vehicles, they did not have such huge houses, they didnt have a TV/DVD player/Satelite in every room and take lavish vacations every year.

I guess it is all about priorities. We are not rich, so we had to make cutbacks to allow my wife to stay at home. but I would rather do that and have my wife and I raise the kids, not a stranger from some other country.

أبو سنان said...

Also, I didnt mean to imply that raising the kids was just a mothers duty.

I might work 60 hours a week, but I only get 5 hours a sleep a night because I stay up after I come home to help change diapers, make food and feed the kids as well as help out around the house.

I love my boys so much I find it hard to go to sleep even though I need to.

Anonymous said...

Asalam 3alaykom,
oula..so nice..
It reminded me of a movie i saw years ago..called"SWITCH"..
Regarding the moral...the part when he had to make love when he was exhausted without complaint made me laugh..
I tried both..i tried being at home 24/24 for years..it wasn't horrible beacuse i made myself believe it's for the best..yet i missed a lot in life ..
And i am now experiencing handling the whole responsiblity of work plus home..so it doubled..and i have to say..it is not as easy as i thought..
Thanks for sharing:)

Anonymous said...

And one more thing..
abu sinan..masha2 allah 3aleek..may allah bless you and your family.

Dar said...

It made me smile :) thanks for sharing !

CheeerZ!

Oula said...

This debate is very interesting... i will only add one note.. i have made a series of interviews with sucessful arab businesswomen for Anty magazine.. ALL those women told me that children of working women grow up to be more successful and ambitious than those of stay-at-home moms.. a German study recently found out the same!

thank u all for dropping by!

أبو سنان said...

Oula,

For us it is important for our children to be with their mother until it is time for them to go to school.

From age 5+ they will be going to school like everyone else. My wife has been accepted for her Masters Degree program and will be busy getting that whilst the kids are at home.

After that she is off to be "professional mommy". There is no reason you cannot stay at home and then by the professional/driven mommy.

The middle of the road is the best course.

Anonymous said...

hhehehehe yeh this is the best email ;)

Wallahe i agree with you Oula that the today's men are very helpful.

Rohit said...

Here is the reply
The woman awoke as a man and was needless to say very confused. She didn't know anything about her husbands deal. So god decided to straighten things out. God told her everything. Still slightly confused she decided to play along. God then informed her she was late for work. So she hastily got dressed, ate breakfast, and ran out the door. She arrived at work 30 minutes late, traffic was bad, and was severely scolded by her boss, who told her that if she messed up again she would be fired. When she got to her cubicle she had a pile of work waiting for her. It took her the rest of the morning but eventually she finished. At lunch she went to get the meal her husband had packed only to find that some asshole had stolen it from the fridge. After lunch she had to give a presentation to some new clients. Starving, she couldn't stop her stomach from growling. This made it very hard for anyone to pay attention to what she was saying. After the meeting her boss told her that the clients had decided to pick another firm and that she was fired. She packed up all her stuff and raced home, hoping this day would just end. She was pulled over for speeding. When she finally got home all she wanted was to find comfort in the arms of her lover. Nope. He was too tired. She finally persuaded him to make love. But he faked it. The next morning she woke up hoping the nightmare would be over. She quickly discovered she was still a man. But before she could ask god why, she fell to the floor in agonizing pain.
"Whats happening to me?!!" she cried to god
"You're having a heart attack"god replied
"why god why?"
"Because your wife is pregnant again."