Back when I was pregnant with Phoebe, I asked for some help with guest posts because I wasn’t sure how I would keep blogging with a newborn and two little ones to look after.
Well, it turns out you make time for the things you love. I love blogging and have been able to maintain posting a few posts a week. The only time I get to blog now is between 8-10pm at night after I’ve successfully settled Phoebe to sleep.
Nevertheless I wanted to feature a guest post from a new blogger on the scene. Trea from Mum on Fire blogs when she can because she is a full time mother to two little girls and is married to an electrician. I asked Trea what it’s like to be married to a tradie. You can check out her blog Mum on Fire and send some love her way via her Facebook page here. This is Trea’s post titled My Tradie Hubby.
I am married to a very spunky sparky and he is kinda awesome. But being married to a sparky was not quite what I thought it would be. I have to say I assumed all trades men could just do all trades. When a guy says “I’m a tradie” I hear, I can build stuff, fix stuff, do all manner of odd jobs around the house and probably fix your car too. But this is so not the case.
My husband, Chris, can only make my lights work…that’s it….not really, he can do more than that, but not much more. I thought maybe he just could not be bothered doing other jobs but then the other day at the local hardware store I wanted some advice about waterproofing wood and the first guy clearly dressed as a tradie said “I know nothing about wood, I’m a plumber”, the next guy I asked was a cabinet maker and still had no clue and then I found a builder who said “I dunno, I just build houses”. I realised, ok so tradie does not mean useful and good at all manner of handy man things.
Having an electrician husband also means you will probably never get those power points you want in the hall. First because he does it all day and does not want to do it when he gets home and second everyone else you know wants him to put in power points (of course at mates rates) so mine are never going to happen. He also can’t necessarily fix something just because it has electricity in it. My mother-in-law asks Chris to look at the fridge, the iPod speakers and pretty much anything you plug in, assuming because it uses electricity he must be able to fix it. Well he can’t. The refrigerator repair man probably could though.
But being married to a tradie has some pretty awesome pros. Chris leaves home normally by 6 and is normally home by 3:30-4ish. These hours are just so awesome now that we have a young family, it means every day he is home to spend some quality time with the kids and help me do dinners and baths, a time that can be very stressful for any parent. It also allows me to sometimes head out and do things in the afternoon kids free. Something most mums never get to do.
Because being an electrician is a fairly physical job my man keeps in good shape without spending hours at a gym and because electricians use their hands and fine motor skills a lot he knows how to give a great massage, which is a skill I took full advantage of when I was pregnant. Sadly because of his trade his hands also feel like sandpaper but when you’re pregnant you will take what you can get.
I love that I have an electrician for a husband, sure it has it’s pros and cons but I think the pros well out way the cons when it comes to my man. Sure I wish he could build me a deck tomorrow and fix my shower but I am sure my friends wish their chippy hubbies could put in that aircon and fix those lights. I love my spunky sparky and although we don’t make millions every year I have a man who uses his hands and his brain and has time to be with his kids and wife not just on the weekends.
Is your partner a tradie? How do you find having a tradie in the family?
I’m linking up with Essentially Jess for #IBOT.
