Sometimes it only takes a look from Wifey to remind me that I can be a bit of an asshole from time to time. Yeah, I know. Hard to believe, right?

She has spent the last three weeks almost single-handedly nursing the whole house (including herself) through sickness and the busy Holiday season. I always assume my actions (I think I do a pretty good job in the hubby-daddy-provider role) are enough to show my appreciation.

I forget what I did to trigger it? But “the look” I received (the bags under her eyes should have given me a clue) reminded me that sometimes you need to stop, swallow your pride if necessary, and say those two little words that every woman needs to hear…”THANK YOU”. You can follow that up with “for everything you do.” and even, “I love you.”

I had certainly noticed Wifey running herself ragged to make sure the kids still had a memorable Christmas. Although it’s easy to forget that being a Mom is mostly a thankless job while simultaneously being the toughest job in the world. The kids won’t always say “thank you.” Not yet anyway. They don’t get the fact that their Mama is fighting off the flu on 3 hours sleep but still drags herself out of bed to make them a healthy breakfast and push through another 12 hour day, all for them. I know in some cases, us fellas might put more hours on a time-clock, being Mama is a round-the-clock job.

So if the kids don’t say “thank you”, who will? It has to be us, guys. I know that being married with kids is like an “Appreciation Tug of War” at times, each partner feeling as though they put forth so much effort and yearning for a little recognition.

Yesterday it took Wifey letting go of the rope and me falling flat on my ass to realize I needed to stop trying to win the war this time.

Remember guys, a little “thank you” goes a long way. If you’re in real trouble, back rubs and flowers never hurt either:)