The Lovely and Talented Janice just got through a very hard week, preparing for and participating in a crafts show to support the local women’s help center. I’ve learned over the years to just stay out of her way during such periods, and to do more than my usual share of household support in addition to what emotional and logistical support I could bring her. She enjoys the creativity and handiwork, and also meeting all the folks who come out for such events. I enjoy seeing what she generates, and the glow that derives from the entire activity—the hard work notwithstanding.
The show ended on Saturday, so of course by Sunday I was ready for her to pay some attention to me—this, despite the objective understanding that she needed some downtime and decompression. Couple that with some going-wrong-way professional things on my side, and we managed to bump heads a bit.
Well, truth be told, I bumped my head; Jan’s so feet-on-the-ground that such things just don’t bother her.
It took me about a day, but we finally got back in synch, and we’re now moving forward—together—the way we usually do.
But I could sure do without the agita in the meantime.
Questions: Do you make room for others—either routinely or episodically—in your day-to-day activities? If you do, do you do it gracefully? Do you exact a tax for such an approach? How do you know when it’s time to “move over” and give the other person (entity) room?