P and I can look at the same thing, the same situation, and see remarkably different things.
Most recently, this morning actually, I came down the stairs to a living room strewn with toys and other things that don’t belong there, including someone’s leftover snack which sat on the floor next to a pile of blankets in front of the TV. I thought, “Ugh, what a mess.” My eyes tracked on clutter everywhere, though it was better this morning than it was the day before, because I dug though some of it yesterday.
I did notice, however, that the kitchen was tidy. The dishwasher had been unloaded, and the sink was clear of dishes too. P’s coffeemaker was full and ready to brew. Nice, I thought.
Fast-forward a few hours. I snuck upstairs to see if P was awake yet, and he had just started stirring. He finally awoke after I sat on the bed staring at him for 5 minutes, willing him to wake up. We chatted for a moment, and he said, “Did you see it? Did you notice?” I thought and thought, and said, “See what?” He said, “The house! I cleaned it!”
Dumbstruck as I was, I knew better than to say what I was thinking, which was, “Huh?” So instead I said, “I noticed you emptied the dishwasher and made your own coffee – that was nice to wake up to!” He said, “I thought you’d like that. I made it so you could do other things besides clean the house today.”
Um, yeah.
I guess to him emptying the dishwasher and wiping down the countertops constitutes cleaning the house. And besides that, he cleans the kitchen every night so it wasn’t even out of the ordinary.
I’m thinking I woke him from a dream in which he did, in fact, clean the house. Perhaps he was confusing reality with fantasy for a moment there. At any rate, I did appreciate his enthusiasm and was grateful for a tidy kitchen and ready-to-go coffee first thing. I just wish I could get him to set his sights a little higher – perhaps broaden them a little.
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