Mars and Venus



I really do think I'm hardwired differently than Dave. I don't know if that's a result of nature or nurture, but regardless, I'm different.

Case in point: How we manage high-stress situations.

Let me replay the latest in our At-Home Edition of the Darwin Awards:

Setting: It's 8am. Everyone's getting ready for school. Dave and I are both home.


Child: [SCREAMING LIKE I'VE NEVER HEARD] "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"


Me: [SCREAMING LIKE NO ONE'S EVER HEARD] "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Dave, help her. Help her. Help her. Please. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"


Dave: [Calmly] "Where is she?"


Me: "Upstairs." [Dave runs upstairs. Part way up the stairs...] "Downstairs! Dave, where are you? She's hurt. Dave????"


Dave: [Calmly] "You said upstairs. I'm coming."


Child: [Still screaming like I've never heard. BTW: Me, too. Still screaming.]


Dave: [Gets to said-child. She's put hand-sanitizer in her eye. He begins to rinse the eye and calm the child.]


Me: "Holy mother of God. Is she okay?" [Yes, I become part-Mormon and part-Catholic when I'm stressed. PS: Does God have a mother? What in the heck? Yes? No? Now I'm really going to have an existential crisis on my hands. Truly, I should have been born a Jurrasic period women; this ability to reason isn't all it's cracked up to be. Anywho . . . ]


Dave: "She's going to be fine. She's okay."


And that's when it hits me: I'm a complete stress when it comes to injuries and the kids. Complete stress. I'm of no use. If we were in a Tsunami, I'd be the one flipping out. Dave would be the one telling everyone, "breath, grab a piece of driftwood, remember how loved you are, it's going to be okay." I'd be the one saying . . . well, I think you can gather what I'd be saying. It wouldn't be calming, let's just leave it at that.

So, today as I begin the day, I realize--this is a Mars and Venus difference that I appreciate.

A lot.

AND, I'm guessing our kids do too. I can just hear them recounting their childhood to their own children one day, "So my mom, she's running around screaming while dad is cool as a cucumber."

Can you imagine if it were just ME managing these things? LOL.

Life is funny.

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