Mommas, don’t let your babies grow up to be lawyers16 Jun 2008 01:16 pm
By Heather O.
So my husband, my father and I were chatting about politics. My dad mentioned Angela Merkel.
DH, to me, “She’s the Chancillor of Germany.”
I scowled at him and said, “Yeah, thanks.”
He put on his oh, hey, I didn’t mean to upset you face and said, “Well, I thought you didn’t know, like you were asking a question about who she was, or something.”
I responded, testily, “I’m not as dumb as you think I am, you know.”
DH said, “That’s not true!!”
I stared at him.
“Wait”, he said. ”That came out wrong.”
He is SO getting extra dish duty this week.
I usually get that type of response when my DH isn’t REALLY listening to me. I say, dish duty for the summer!
Comment #1 by AbbyJune 16th, 2008 at 1:50 pmOh gosh, my DH does this to me all the time. It totally ticks me off too. One time I asked him if he’d prefer I just sat with a stupid grin on my face while watching him in his glory. For all the “I can screw the bike rack on” as he takes everything out of my hands to do it himself. Or explain who is who, or what is what’s. Last time I checked I had a nice little IQ, and I help kids with Calc, Chem, and even take classes for fun. (I admit, while I can use the power tools, I am a lot slower with them than he is.)
Then comes the- will you sit & stare and show some skin so I can really be a man.
He’s a pig.
Comment #2 by MelJune 16th, 2008 at 2:04 pmBut a cute one… most of the time.
Hmmm… I had no idea who Angela Merkel was. What does that make me?
Comment #3 by MommaJune 16th, 2008 at 2:09 pmHaven’t you ever done this to your husbands before, though? If I am talking to my mom or a girlfriend about something that I don’t think dh has any idea about, I’ll often stop and explain to him what we’re saying, and he usually already knew what it was, too. So I guess in our marriage I’m the inconsiderate one when it comes to this. (Though in my defense, I do it to help him feel included, not because I think he’s dumb.) Oh, and I do it a lot, too, when it’s about something I don’t think he remembers, because he often forgets stuff that I remember as my brain seems to be wired to remember the unimportant, mundane things in life.
Comment #4 by StarababaJune 16th, 2008 at 2:25 pmI choked on my diet coke when i read the title… that was really funny! My husband does that all the time. He also answers questions, that I have not asked, because he is not listening to me.
Comment #5 by themotherboardJune 16th, 2008 at 2:48 pmGrrr.
I found out last year that my husband didn’t know that raisins are dried grapes! He is a smart, well educated man but in that moment he lost all power to make me feel dumb about anything. He can act like he knows everything but I know the truth!
Comment #6 by MarieJune 16th, 2008 at 2:50 pmMarie - Yes, my husband thought while growing up that sheep were female goats. But I too have had a few beauties of my own, which would be really funny to talk about but I can’t seem to remember them for the life of me now!
Anyway, my husband scoffs at me when I ask a question for clarification when we’re listening to the news or a talk-radio show. And of course, he never recognizes all the times I teach him things (that he should have known by now) and don’t say a word if he asks me what something is, etc. Oh well. Someone’s gotta be the bigger person in this relationship, clearly it’s me.
Comment #7 by Carole G.June 16th, 2008 at 4:16 pmGuess I don’t get what the big deal is. I say, give the poor guy a break. Obviously he doesn’t think you are an idiot or he wouldn’t have been talking about politics with you in the first place. lol
Comment #8 by LeigulJune 16th, 2008 at 4:23 pmWow! You can get your husband to do dish duty? Mine will help out with a lot of things, but not the dishes! He also doesn’t clean the bathrooms.
Come to think of it, I end up changing most of the diapers too… unless I am at work. Then it is all daddy all the time!
Comment #9 by Honey MommyJune 16th, 2008 at 4:36 pmI have to admit its me who does that to my husband. And everyone else. I think I’m related to Hermione Granger.
Comment #10 by veritasJune 16th, 2008 at 5:27 pmLeigul-
The joke is actually his response to “I’m not as dumb as you think I am.” Sort of a Freudian slip. Well, not Freudian, I guess-what would be the Freudian equivalent for academics?
Comment #11 by Heather O.June 16th, 2008 at 6:04 pmLeigul, she’s not really mad at him. It was just funny. Promise.
Comment #12 by The WizJune 16th, 2008 at 6:06 pmSo funny! Usually,I’m the one that does this to my husband, then I feel bad, well kinda:) Carole G. and Marie, I was laughing so hard about the raisins and the sheep, although I know there is something equally dumb that I had thought at one time!
Comment #13 by TrixieJune 16th, 2008 at 6:48 pmI’ve had to ask my husband several times what he means by all the acronyms he uses when he talks about airplanes. He and his mechanic buddies just throw them out all over the conversation. And the funny thing is, he’ll describe a problem he had at work just like I understood a thing he says. It’s okay though, because often he asks me about politics or history of some other topic he’s not familiar with. We each have our area of expertise. It’s so nice to tell a kid with a broken toy to “go show your father and maybe he can fix it.”
Comment #14 by mormonhermitmomJune 16th, 2008 at 10:05 pmIf it makes you feel any better, my husband didn’t know you are supposed to put sugar on your oatmeal. He suffered through six months of that in Israel, tee-hee!
Comment #15 by SallyGirlJune 16th, 2008 at 11:32 pmhee hee Make him scrub toilets.
I do this to my husband. Or at least I used to. Because while my husband is smart, for a loooong time there, he was dumb as a rock about current events and politics. (When we got married, he was fresh off his mission and I don’t think he’d read a newspaper in his entire life, other than possibly the comics, and maybe Dear Abby if he was feeling ambitious.) These days it’s a totally different story, he reads several papers every day. But I give myself credit for that - for introducing him to the idea of reading the pages with all of the words on them.
I like to tell him that if he’d married some other girl, he’d be a complete political idiot. (He really likes it when I say that.)
And Heather, your comment on my Mormon post made my rather sucky day today, so thanks. I love you guys!
Comment #16 by Anon for This OneJune 17th, 2008 at 7:32 amOh CRAP. Well, I guess I’ve outed myself. Heh.
Comment #17 by SueJune 17th, 2008 at 7:33 amVeritas–Every time I watch Harry Potter my husband gives me a not-so-subtle-look that is meant to remind me of my over-eagerness to correct grammar, pronounciation, random bits of trivia, etc. to anyone I come into contact with.
Guilty as charged. I am the one who does this in our family. And I am going to be a lawyer–do I even have a chance?
Comment #18 by BrittanyJune 17th, 2008 at 8:32 amYes, I know she was joking, I suppose it bugs me when it is alright to berate one’s husband. I guess I am a bit touchy lately as it seems to be the current trend in movies and TV shows. Show the man/father as an idiot while the women can do no wrong! Just a tad annoying is all….carry on!
Comment #19 by LeigulJune 17th, 2008 at 8:48 amAngela who???
Comment #20 by Alison WonderlandJune 17th, 2008 at 9:05 amI don’t think the post made him sound like he was an idiot. If anything it made it sound like the complete opposite.
Comment #21 by LyndseyJune 17th, 2008 at 11:59 amI keep telling DH I am going to write a little book for posterity filled with all of the little gems he shoots at me. Here are recent favorites:
-I had been tanning a few times and DH said, “Wow, your stomach is getting really tan. Do you think it’s because it’s the closest thing to the lights?”
-Again, on tanning, “You’re getting so brown. How leathery are you going to get?”
-He recently bought temple clothes for me and had gone on quite a search finding long enough sleeves for my monkey arms, long enough skirt, etc. We happened to be in a store that sells temple clothes and I was admiring the shirts. They were all small or x-small. I am not. I remarked on how pretty a certain shirt was and he says, in ear shot of the salesman, “Yeah, good luck finding it in YOUR size.”
All of these things have made me laugh. I raz him quite a bit, but he knows I know he would never say anything hurtful.Leigul, I don’t think Heather meant to make her DH sound like an idiot. I don’t think mine is one either. They are just funny stories of the things people say without thinking it through.
Comment #22 by solJune 17th, 2008 at 1:12 pmSol,
Comment #23 by JamiJune 17th, 2008 at 1:23 pmThat made me laugh!
My husband didn’t know that dried plums are really prunes. He ate two big juicy ones. It was pretty funny, yet sad because he already has a troublesome colon, and didn’t need that much extra fiber.
Comment #24 by LindsayJune 17th, 2008 at 1:48 pmAh, a guy in my law school class used to sing a song about not letting your boys grow up to be lawyers. I thought you were going to reprise it. He was a really good guy.
Also sang a variation of Leaving on a Jet Plane.
I hate to go …
Comment #25 by Stephen M (Ethesis)June 17th, 2008 at 7:46 pmhaha, I had to laugh about the husband not knowing what raisins are; were mine did, but it slipped his mind one day when we were grocery shopping together. I think we were buying some craisins or something and my husband says, “man, they should make dried grapes, that would be really good.” I told him, “they do, they’re called raisins.” He’ll never live that down.
Comment #26 by aprilJune 18th, 2008 at 11:09 am