Monthly Archives: July 2009

Dear Auntie BubboPants

By

First published July 27 2009, TWiR on Ravelry.com.
This week I’m doing things a little differently. I received what could possibly be considered the LONGEST MESSAGE EVER and attempts to edit it for length have failed me. This week’s column will feature a single letter broken down into pieces and responded to as such. Normally I would focus on the letter as a whole but there are so many situations here that deserve to be addressed individually before they are tied together.
So let’s do this like Brutus, people…

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Dear Auntie Bubbopants,
I think I might be on the verge of being a wiener, and possibly a jerkwalter and lately I have definitely been acting like what Chester would call “a little”.
I only got turned onto your column last week but I’ve gone back now and read all the archives and I know I can count on you to tell it like it is and to tell me I’m being a weenus if that IS what I’m being.
So here goes…
I’m in my mid-twenties and my husband is in his mid-thirties. We’ll call my husband Dieter. We’ve been married for 5 years and together for 7. We met on the internet and our relationship just took off like a rocket. Everything was ‘right’ and I knew really early on that he was ‘the one’ that we would get married and live happily ever after. Except I was quite young and I don’t think anyone had ever told me that even when you’re with the right person it is not always happily ever after. Sometimes it’s lovely and sometimes it’s grumbling over why he never shuts the napkin drawer when he sets the table and why I sometimes scream in my sleep for no reason. And sometimes it’s terrible sometimes it’s fighting and I hate you and I should never have married you and you make me sick (from him) and a lot of crying and if you loved me you wouldn’t say those things and I gave up my entire life to be with you how could you do this to me (from me).
As a bit of background I had an abusive and very controlling childhood (my mother being the perpetrator of this abuse) and as you’ve touched on in past columns this has created a lot of problems for me in my adult life. BUT since I’ve been seeing someone for counselling I’m slowly becoming better able to handle myself to avoid my ‘patterns’ and Dieter and I have been fighting less. I believe he might need some talking therapy of his own because he has anger issues and we definitely need marriage counselling to make real progress but things aren’t horrible. We are best friends and when we’re not arguing things are peachy. Except we don’t have sex. Ever. Starting about 6 months after we got married and moved in together (I had to move some distance to accomplish this so we never lived together before the wedding) our sex life started dying and it’s gotten to the point where, according to my diary, we’ve only had sex twice in the last 10 months. I’m always up for it (I have a high sex drive and this could be down to a hormonal condition I have or it might just be how I am…) and I try to initiate it, jump him, wear sexy outfits, etc. with no joy. I’ve read a lot of your advice on this problem and I’m glad I’m not the only woman out there to feel this way. From your advice to other readers I think Dieter might be depressed and I think he needs to work through that on his own with a therapist as well as us working through our issues together in couples counselling before things will get better in this area but it’s not enough to make me give up and, surprisingly, this is not why I’m writing.

As a society we like to talk about and view the concept of ‘love’ in very altruistic terms. Love is about giving and forgiving and doing so much for the other person. Love is about sacrifice.
In many ways, yes, love can be very altruistic and lead us to great self sacrifice. The other truth is that love, the act of falling in love, the very animal act of finding a mate and pair bonding, is a very selfish and self serving act. The very necessity of keeping a species populated and healthy requires a certain amount of selfish reasoning behind picking a mate. If this were not true, then female deer would hump whatever male instead of allowing themselves to become one of a harem to the strongest male. They are making the selfish choice to follow that buck which can provide to them the best food and the strongest genes. Sure, they don’t ‘choose’ this in the human sense, but again, for the strength of their species it is a necessity.
As humans we also do this but we call it other things, “compatibility”, “mutual interests”, “desires”, “strong firm buttocks”. We love people for selfish reasons, “I love him because he make me feel good…because he’s so sexy and hot…because we have the same interests…because he treats me better than anyone else…”
There is also a lot of projection that happens when you first meet someone. You see them as you want to see them, you project your values and experiences on to them. That’s why we are sometimes so shocked…SHOCKED when suddenly they are just not “who they were when we met them!”.
The reason I bring all this up is to address the phenomenon of internet relationships. I like the internet and it has done so much to bring people together. People who under normal circumstances may never have met are now meeting and forming relationships that never could have happened and that’s wonderful. It’s wonderful but it comes with consequences we’d not previously considered. The person on the other side of the monitor is only a series of pixels and bits. The words and photos are there but it’s your mind, your experiences, your values and your emotions that fill in all the blanks. You never had a chance to take the time to learn about who he really was as a person and vice versa. You talked a lot, but it isn’t often that his inability to close a napkin drawer or any of the other seemingly uninteresting minutia come up in conversation.
I never close the silverware drawer. I don’t. I don’t know why. It doesn’t make sense. It’s not even something I ever noticed until David pointed it out. It drives him nuts. Had we met through the internet over a long distance, it not a thing that would have ever come up in conversation and he never would have imagined it to exist.
The reality of the internet relationship is that it does not matter how well you ‘know’ a person, you will not ‘know’ what they are like in reality until you spend some time there with them…in reality.
As such, it’s no wonder that things seems so surprisingly different! You didn’t fall in love with a man who leaves the drawers open! What the hell!
And then there’s the sex! There are no less that 9 pantillion factors that go into sexual attraction and compatibility! No lie! But the better part of sexual attraction HAS to be determined in person. Again, as much as we like to pretend that we are reasonable beings that can choose physical attractions based on intellectual pursuits we are not. We are still animals and sex and sexual attraction is still (and always will be) a very animal pursuit. A very large part of sexual attraction is still mired in finding a mate that will provide the best outcome for offspring. Even if you are never ever planning on having kids you still don’t get to turn that part off. You want good strong offspring, you want to know that they will be safe and cared for. This is true of both partners. One very huge factor is immune systems. Studies have found that we are generally attracted to people who have very different immune systems from our own. What the hell does this have to do with anything? Mixing disparate immune systems is going to give the offspring a much better chance of survival.
How do we know who has the best immune system match for us? We can smell it!! Sniff sniff! In addition to signals involving your immune system you are also picking up all kinds of other information about this person’s biology. It is this information that can never travel across the internet and it is this information that makes the rules of attraction so damned perplexing. Why does this person SEEM so perfect and yet there just is no spark? no attraction?
I’m writing a lot of paragraphs to say that no matter how well you clicked over the internet, it does sound like there were far too many factors not accounted for before you got married but are now becoming too big to ignore. and I’m only talking about the physical ones. It sounds like both of you are in emotional situations that are hindering your progress. You are taking steps on those and it sounds like more steps need to be taken.
But again, you say this isn’t why you are writing to me. You are writing to me about your recent weenus behavior and the issues that are coming from that. Oh you weenus! Let’s talk about you and your weenus behavior.
I am writing because I have suddenly become 13 years old again and I’ve met a man and I’ve gone completely insane-head-over-heels-OMG-I-want-you-take-me-now for him. What I feel for this guy (we’ll call him Franklin) is not like any other crush I’ve ever had before. I’m very much the kind of person who is attracted to people’s personalities and not their physicalities. I’ve never been this physically attracted to any man or woman I’ve ever known/been with/dated/admired from afar/seen in films/etc. This isn’t to say I don’t fancy Dieter (I do!) but Dieter is not what my close friend Gaga would call my X-Factor. And Franklin so very definitely is. Gaga has this theory that somewhere out there there is that one person for everyone who embodies all of the things that they find ideally physically attractive. The person who embodies the exact apex of someone’s “type” and that when/if you meet this person fireworks and electricity and insane sexual desire overtake you because this is the person all your fantasies are about. The idealised fantasy person that you think about when you pull out your Rabbit for a little ‘me time’.
Franklin is this to me. He is SO my X-Factor. The first time I saw him I was blown away. He’s my age and we work in the same building (over 1000 people work here and we’re in completely different departments). He’s a lunch mate of a guy in my department we’ll call Eerie and the first time I saw him was in the canteen. He is tall, dark, and handsome but more than that he ticks all the boxes of things I find attractive. He has kind brown eyes, strong hands, a big mouth not just big lips but a wide, completely melt-your-pants-off smile, and he is skinny and wears glasses. But he is gorgeous…he could have come out of a magazine. Anyway Eerie often invited me to eat lunch with his crew but I was too shy and until Gaga started working in my team I didn’t have the courage. We started eating with them in November and the first time I talked to Franklin we just clicked. It was so easy. We got into a debate about feminism and things just went on from there. We e-mail eachother every day and just chat and joke around and he is kind, and sweet, and funny, and dorky, and we have a LOT in common.
You know what, I bet you and Franklin DO have a lot in common and I bet you do have lots of fun together! I have no doubt that he is super awesome!
But I do question WHY he seems so awesome.
I don’t think Franklin is special. I don’t think he’s special in that I don’t think he is much different from most people. What I do think is that he represents to you all that you do not have. He represents your projection of a better alternative. Once again, you are projecting your needs and wants onto a person in order to fill in the blanks. The only thing different here is that you have the benefit of proximity. Your body can smell his pheromones and add that to the overall assessment.
I haven’t had a close guy friend since my best friend who we’ll call Trogdor went into the army just before I got married and moved away. We used to hang out all the time and chat and drink or go out to eat and we were just…close. And I missed that so much. With Franklin when we go out together it’s so easy just like it was with Trogdor. And though Trogdor wasn’t my X-Factor our friendship was born of a mutual attraction that we never acted on. I’d forgotten how good it felt to have a close friend as since I’ve moved to be with Dieter I’ve been pretty isolated and haven’t found anyone that I could say I was that close to. But now I have Gaga and Franklin and I feel so lucky.
The only problem is my insane attraction to Franklin is getting to be a problem. I really feel like it could not only ruin our friendship but also my marriage. Because I have NEVER felt this way before and while I know I am essentially a good person, who wouldn’t cheat, and who has strong resolve and self-control I do NOT feel in control of my feelings for him and while I don’t think I’d act on this I’m really not sure anymore. I get sexually aroused just being in the same room as him.
Flirting like this is very similar to the beginnings of an online relationship. It’s new and fresh and you blush. Here’s this person that you like expressing interest in YOU! and you are expressing interest in them. There you are, bright plumage waving wildly all over the forest floor and all you want is to put his plumage all over yours and isn’t that exciting?
Sure, it’s exciting!
Now, answer me this: does he close the napkin drawer? does he leave errant toothpaste blobs in the sink? does he rinse out the tuna cans before he puts them in the recycling bag? does he sort the laundry by color and fabric? does he check the pockets before throwing your pants in the machine?
What have you sacrificed so far? Nothing really. But what happens if you ‘sacrifice’ your marriage for this and it turns out that he is not ‘x-factor’ but just ‘regular factor’? Not much? Really? Are you sure?

a lot of crying and if you loved me you wouldn’t say those things and I gave up my entire life to be with you how could you do this to me (from me).

Think about it some more. Really, think about it.
Gaga and I have talked about this (almost endlessly) for weeks and it just seems like he’s into me as well. Though I doubt that he could be as into me as I am to him. This is amazing for me. I’ve always felt ugly and unattractive (the Dieter flinching when I touch him sexually and pushing me away if I try to cuddle is really not good for already rock bottom self-esteem) and when I first saw Franklin it made me depressed because I fancied him so much and I knew, just KNEW he’d never even speak to me let alone fancy me because who would EVER do that? Especially someone as X-Factor as him. But we do talk and we hang out and we have SO much fun and I really do think he has feelings for me. Things have got quite flirty lately. He’s touching me in completely innocent but purposeful ways when he has no reason/need to. (Which makes my whole body feel electric and burn like my chest is on fire) And the way he looks at me and the way he smiles at me is not how he looks or smiles at Gaga or Pigeon or any of the other girls we hang out with. Pigeon has noticed it recently (I haven’t told her any of this) and commented that she thinks we’d make a cute couple.
So this is my dilemma. I’m afraid that if I continue this friendship and one night he leans in to kiss me I won’t pull away. And I don’t want to be emblazoned with the Scarlet Letter but I know myself and Gaga knows me. And she thinks that we’ve started something that if we let it continue will end in something like that happening. I don’t want to stop seeing him because the friendship is so important and I’ve missed being close with people since I moved to this strange country. BUT my marriage is important to me too. With Franklin I know that even if we could be happy in a relationship together it wouldn’t be ‘right’ he’s not ‘the one’. He might be my X-Factor but I’m really only interested in him for sex…not necessarily his body (which is awesome) but the electric feeling that we generate. And I don’t want to leave Dieter. I’ve come to feel that our marriage is more like one of friends who live together and cuddle sometimes than it is a proper relationship. I’ve started to think that maybe I married too young and that although he’s ‘right’ it’s still not going to work. It might yet end, but at this stage I’m not ready to give up.
When Franklin and I were out last night and we were chatting about my marriage. I told him about the problems Dieter and I were having before I thought he was into me…I try not to talk about it too much now because it feels weird. But I told him about it before when we were ‘just friends’ and I don’t see any reason to stop acting like anything other than ‘just friends’ since nothing has actually happened so we talked. He asked me if I’d ever cheat and I had to say that I didn’t think so, but that if the right person and I were in that situation I honestly don’t know what I’d do. It’s the truth…
I know I should stop hanging out with Franklin just the two of us but I don’t want to for so many reasons.
But I don’t want to be ‘that woman’ and I don’t want to wreck my marriage and I do love Dieter.
At this stage I’ve not done anything wrong. Dieter knows where I go when I’m with Franklin and he knows we’re friends and he’s ok with that. But he’s also insecure because of our problems and though he’d never say anything and is not the jealous type I’m afraid that if I spend more and more time with Franklin (both alone and with ‘the crew’) that Dieter will feel isolated and alone. He doesn’t have or want friends of his own and until I started going out it was just us in the house alone together all the time on evenings and weekends. I just stayed in and read or knit…and now I am so happy to go out and have friends. And I just love the electricity when Franklin and I are together. If we could keep going on as friends and I could let this desire fizzle out that would be perfect because we really do have so much in common and get on so well and I’m not just saying that because I want to jump his bone. I wouldn’t make a move myself and I think he’s too principled to make a move on a married woman, even one he has chemistry with…but who knows?
Oh, Bubbopants, what do YOU think I should do? Because I can’t trust my own judgement anymore. Gaga and my father both say I should just continue being friends. That I’ll know when I’ve crossed ‘that line’ and that I need to re-evaluate if that ever does happen. My dad has also said that some of his best friends have grown out of some fierce flirting/attracting and that I’ll get over these feelings sooner than it feels like I will.
Very confusedly but still so crazy-in-lust,
Constance Chatterly

What do I think? I think you are being a damned weenus. That’s what I think. I think it’s time for you to stop being 13, to stop being a little and start assessing all the factors here in a real and mature way.
You are married to Dieter. Dieter is the man to whom you are married. You and Dieter entered into a committed relationship and in the contract you made some serious promises. This contract does obligate you to certain behaviors and actions.
What are your obligations? Your obligations are to make every good faith effort towards a successful relationship. You’ve started down this road, you are in therapy and this is helping you and it is helping the relationship. Marriage counseling is a definite second step.
What else? I want you to spend some real and solid time ALONE with your thoughts. I want you to evaluate as objectively as possible your motivations for entering into the relationship and subsequent marriage to Dieter. You say you gave up so much to be with him, but there is a secret part of you that you don’t want to recognize exists. There is a part of you that wants to reconstruct that sentiment a bit to have it read

I gave up my entire life to be with the person I imagined you to be how could you do this to me.

You filled in so many blanks and then jumped in and now you find that your assumptions were incorrect. Well, that happens and it means you have a lot of thinking to do. Are the differences between what you imagined and what is reality so different that you are unable to reconcile them? Are they close enough that you can work on them?
If you truly are unhappy in your marriage I would never advocate that you stay, but I strongly recommend that you make the effort to accept your responsibility in the matter.
You and Dieter aren’t having sex very often and a lack of sexual intimacy in a relationship can be the result of any number of issues on the relationship issue spectrum. Maybe there truly is a lack of physical attraction beyond the visual. Maybe the degradation of your relationship has cooled the sexual feelings. Maybe Dieter has physical or emotional issues that do not involve you specifically but as a result you are not getting the regular humping. Whatever the reason, it needs to be addressed and explored. He might need to address it in private talk therapy or it needs to be dealt with in marriage counseling, either way, it needs to be dealt with.
As for Franklin? Walk away. Period. I don’t care how the chemistry feels, I don’t care how ‘cute’ you look when you are together, I don’t care how much fun you have with him. Franklin is NOT your x-factor. He is not. Franklin is a symptom of your unhappiness. Franklin is the cough that indicates pneumonia. If you don’t focus on the pneumonia you aren’t going to get better.
You are obligated by your marriage to focus your energy on your marriage. If, after making an effort in good faith you find that you still cannot reconcile your differences, then you work to end the marriage. THEN and only THEN can you start focusing on other people. I don’t mean this to sound like a prudey traditional marriage kind of thing. What I want you to understand is that for you Franklin or his replacements will always be a sort of life preserver in the boat of your marriage. It can be comforting to know that they exist, but in the end what they do is give you permission to ignore the hole in the bottom of the boat. Why should you worry about the boat sinking? It’s not like you are going to drown so long as you have your Franklin nearby, right? It’s easier to just let the boat fill up and sink away from you while you hold onto Franklin.
The thing about sinking boats is that they will suck you down with them.
It’s not enough to hold on to your life preserver. You need to turn around and work on the boat and keep it afloat. The world is FULL of Franklins. Just packed full of them. And maybe with Franklin you can find a sturdier and more seaworthy boat, but until you learn how to maintain a boat on your own, it won’t matter what anyone offers you.
Cliff Notes:
1. Stop being a weenus
2. Marriage counseling
3. Assess the much larger situation of your marriage
4. Recognize Franklin for what he is, a representation of your own yearnings
5. Stop being a weenus
6. Whether or not your marriage with Dieter has a future, Franklin cannot be a factor in that.

copyright 2009 heather ward/bubbodesigns

The convenience will be the death of me.

By

My wireless card died some many months ago and it was inconvenient. A pain to always be tethered to a physical wire. It was a constant reminder that the laptop was not an extension of me and my mind but that I was extending from it.
The router was in the living room and I was tethered to it by 15 feet of black cat5 cable. No more wandering the house with the laptop, no more checking the email in bed or surfing the web in the bathroom. Sofabound was I.
Then we got a new card. Freedom. The freedom to imprison myself.
I got that card installed and wandered back to the bedroom.
I love my bedroom. I love my bed. Giant king sized bed, giant king sized feather bed on the mattress. The room is finite, it has the comfort of enclosure. The bed is inviting. The dogs love the bed and they love piling on, curling up and passing out with me. They are good dogs. And David! he knows the comfort of the bed, of curling up, of breakfast in bed. He reads to me while I crochet or while I relax.
Eventually, I could find no reason to leave the bedroom. Oh sure, I had to pee and eat, but the bathroom and kitchen were mere steps from the bedroom. I could venture out and return easily. I could leave the house but the more time I spent in the bedroom, the less I could tolerate being away from it. The less I could tolerate communicating with it.
My productivity fell to nothing. No spinning of yarn, no purse making, no practice hat making, nothing of note was produced. Nothing. Projects half finished lay in stasis untouched.
My bedroom became my cave, my cave became my fortress. I defended my fortress. David discovered the impossibility of trying to navigate my defenses. He could try to help, but how do you help a person leave the prison she believes is her only safe place? With patience I suppose and gentle suggestion, with tolerance of the inexplicable mood swings and promises of ice cream.
So, it seems that I have to ask myself “What would Auntie BubboPants say?”. If I got a letter from me, how would I advise me? Pull out the wireless card. Keep it available for when it is necessary, but keep it away from the bedroom. Recognize your limitations and work with them, remove that damned card. When I am tethered to the living room, I can see all the materials for all my projects. My piles of roving, my felty Cthulhu heads, the purses, the patterns for my little 1940’s hats. I feel the inspiration to work and to complete things. To put things out there for sale again. To be part of the world in a small way.
I’m still not using the phone, hopefully soon I will be able to look at it and not see it as some invasive species bent on the destruction of my psyche. God I hate the phone.
Incidentally, I’ve moved Bubbo Designs from Etsy to Artfire (I know I’ve mentioned this before). Go check it out. Purses and roving and yarn and soon hats and more accessories:

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Poppy Surprise Power Purse
A Bad Day In Space

Infinite Nothing

By

I was invited and asked to do the “Infinite Summer” read-a-thon by a lot of people (hi people) There were going to be read along groups on Ravelry and even some local people suggested we get together regularly and discuss.
I declined.
Beyond my mixed feelings about DFW’s writing (I have liked some and disliked other bits) there is just some uncomfortable association in my head. He was smart and funny and artistic and also he suffered from crippling depression. He fought depression his whole life and every time it would seem to get better, then bam! it would return worse than before. Eventually it wore him down. The futility of it all was just too clear to him and he ended his life.
Having had my own battles with depression and having seen the abyss of futility more than once I felt it best to give the Infinite Summer a pass.

Dear Auntie BubboPants

By

First published June 30th 2009, TWiR on Ravelry.com.
Howdy,
For a self-professed non-expert you sure give good advice. So I’m turning to you with my problems.
I’m the mom in a mom/dad/teenage boy/teenage girl/dog/cat/cat household. (We did have another dog to balance out the cats, and he gave us 11 wonderful years before moving on. Now we’re left with (as Dave Barry calls it) the Small Emergency Back-up Dog who is insane but that’s okay.)
The furry ones are not the problems. They are good.
The problems are mine.
1. Both kids and my husband play World of Warcraft online. The kids maintain good grades and friendships and have other interests, although they spend the majority of their free time on this game. I don’t like that it dominates their lives. They’ll often play for 10 hours at a sitting on weekends. They only have a precious few more years living in our home before they’re off to college, and I feel that any time left for my influence on them is slipping away. WoW is not a new obsession; they have been playing it for several years. I’d really like them to spend more time in activities that don’t involve sitting motionless in a chair for hours at a time. I also fear that they’re missing out on all sorts of interests and activities that could be more beneficial to them. We have lots of tools and machines for building stuff, a zillion books, loads of craft supplies of many different kinds, and even a ton of excitingly dangerous chemicals inherited from Grandpa for science experiments. (With protective equipment and heavy-duty supervision from knowledgeable adults. No pipe bombs around here.) There is a large university as well as an excellent community college nearby for cool classes in every subject. I hate to see them miss out because they’re playing a computer game.
2. My husband used to do all sorts of outdoor things involving gardening and minor construction and even inventing devices. For the last few years, World of Warcraft has dominated his existence. He plays for hours. He sometimes gets up at night to play. When he’s not playing, he’s reading WoW manuals and guidebooks and thinking and talking about the game.
He has a good job (very difficult to find in Michigan in the current economy) and does well at it. He works an insane number of hours, leaving for work at 4:30 or 5 a.m. (his choice, not his boss’s order) and getting home between 4 and 7 p.m., and often working part-days on weekends. He certainly deserves every bit of his leisure time. Before WoW he was overweight but in fairly good shape otherwise. Now he is obese, has a bad knee with surgery coming up, has a very unhealthy complexion, and has been warned by his doctor that he must lose weight, be more active, and quit smoking if he wants to live any length of time.
I would like to say that my husband and kids have a problem with World of Warcraft. But they are intelligent and responsible people and are doing well (or holding their own) at school and work. They are happy.
I feel like I’ve lost my family. I’m often anxious, depressed, resentful, and bitter. I’m also extremely fearful of losing my husband because of his poor health.
Sure, the kids are doing well, but they could be exploring so many different activities and ideas at this point in their lives.
My husband doesn’t drink or fool around or watch porno movies or anything like that. But he used to be such a fun and interesting person, as well as a healthier one. (Have you seen the South Park episode about World of Warcraft? There’s an adult WoW player in it who scarily resembles my husband. Although my husband is a Good Guy in the game.)
I am working hard at finding my own happiness, offering opportunities for other activities to my family, and having a variety of hobbies of my own (working on the house and yard, gardening, sewing, cooking, reading, and of course knitting and crocheting). But I want my family back.
I would greatly appreciate your viewpoint and advice.
Many many thanks.
Non-Signing Chicken Butt

Dear NSCB,
Lots of stuff here, but you’ve really thought about it and laid it out well, so that will make my job easier. Really, it sounds like you understand the situation, you just need some guidance for how to deal with it all. A bit of a warning: I have never played WoW. I really don’t know anything about it. The extent of my WoW knowledge comes from this video. It seems that one can be an ogre of sorts and be surrounded by overly buxom lady ogres who battle the laws of physics just by existing.
Well, first things first, since the beginning of time moms have looked at their teenaged kids and thought “Grunka have such nice rocks! Why offspring only interested in sticks? Stick not fun! Rock fun!” This is something that has always happened and will continue to happen until the universe burns itself out and we hear the very last energy particle whispering, “but I don’t WANT to play with neutrinos, mom!” You can’t force someone to be interested in something, especially when there is something else that is far more interesting in the other room.
You’re smart enough to know that even if you wanted to say, “you’re ruining your life with that computer stuff!” it isn’t really true. Their grades are fine and they seem to be doing okay. On the other hand, your husband’s physical situation is deteriorating and this IS worrisome.
1. Yes, your husband DOES work very hard and does deserve to relax
2. Yes, your kids are spending a LOT of time playing a video game when they could be doing something far more educational.
3. Yes, you are feeling lonely, left out and somewhat abandoned
So…what do you do with this?
1. Your husband works hard and wants to play, but he also has a much greater obligation to you and the kids. If he lived alone I would say, “hey, it’s not healthy, but it’s your body and you have to deal with the consequences. Go for it.” He does not live alone, he has a wife and kids and as such he is obligated to set an example and he is obligated to do what he can to be healthy so he can be around for his kids. His kids and his wife need him and they need him to be there physically. This is his responsibility and it is one he took on willingly (even if he seems to have lost sight of that).
2. Your kids are…kids! You and your husband are the boss of the kids. I honestly do not think there is anything wrong with playing video games or surfing the web so long as there is some moderation. Anything done obsessively or to the point of the exclusion of all else is unhealthy, even…yes…the fiber arts! gasp!
3. Yeah, of course you are. You are on the outside, looking in and you don’t have an ally.
It’s time for some moderate asskicking! Starting with your husband. If he’s too tired to participate in healthy physical activities after working so many voluntary hours, he needs to make some changes. Period. This idea that work must happen constantly and to the detriment of all else is sort of…doopiedoo. I mean what’s the point of working to the point of destroying your health and not enjoying life? You and your husband are an equal partnership and it’s time to start working on it.
This means that the two of you need to find a compromise. He has to start spending more time being active and less time in front of the computer not only for his health but also to set an example for the kids.
And the kids….well, set some time limits. Try to engage them and explain that you don’t want to take the game away, you and their father just want them to also focus on more physical activities for their health. They may not like it, but you know, teenagers! The key factor here is your husband. His failing health should be the impetus for change here. Put your foot down, take a stand and yell like one of those ogres! You can get your family back, it’s going to take some hard work on your part, but it’s worth it.

***

Dear Auntie BubboPants,
Ok Auntie. I have a question for you.
This is the situation; I live about 20 minutes away from my parents. My bf and I go over to see them at least once a week, usually for dinner, board games and such. My mom and I are SUPER close! We talk about everything and get along fabulously. My dad and I…….. well, we aren’t close. It isn’t like we fight or anything, we just don’t really talk to each other. I just don’t have much to say to him. I don’t know why, but EVERYTHING HE DOES annoys the CRAP out of me. Not literally. But honestly I can’t STAND him sometimes!
There are certain things I try hard to overlook (things like chewing with his mouth open… GAH) but to be honest, the main thing that bothers me is that he is ALWAYS drumming on stuff. Tables, countertops, his laptop, he even taps out rhythims on a beer glass with his fingernails!!! He’s been a drummer since he was like 10; he’s done some professional drumming and teaches private lessons, so he really is good at it. He’s been doing it forever, and while I understand that he does it without realizing, that doesn’t make it any less annoying. I try to ignore it but after awhile the constant tap-tap-tappity-tap-tappity-tap is more than I can take. I don’t know what to do or say anymore. It’s to the point where I don’t go over there as much becuase it’s getting harder and harder to stop myself from punching him in the face. Which we all know is not the most constructive response.
I really want to hang out with my mom and I try to go at times when she’s home and he isn’t, but they are few and far between. Sometimes my mom comes to my house and that is really nice, but I can’t expect her to come here all the time. So is there anything I can do or say? I know I can’t change his behavior, only the way I respond to it. I wish I wasn’t SO annoyed by this, but I really am. So what do you think?
Thanks Auntie. :)
♥ Katie

Dear Katie,
There is no other way to say this so I am just going to say it, this really isn’t normal. Seriously, it’s not. Yeah, sometimes tapping can be annoying, but it’s not the tapping that’s bugging you. It would not matter what your father did you would be annoyed and angered by it. You say you aren’t close to your father but that reads like a lie of omission.
I cannot really advise you on your issue because whatever that may be, you did not write to me about it.
What I see in your letter is a woman who is very angry with her father, angry to the point of being unable to accept those weirdy little habits that everyone has. David always makes this “aaaawwm” noise when he yawns. When he’s tired he does it a lot and it starts to get on my nerves, but it takes me just a few minutes to remind myself that he is my David and this thing is nothing compared to his awesomeness.
If you would like to write again about the real meat of the situation, I would be glad to give you the advice I have. Until then, I do hope you find some peace.

***

Dear Auntie BubboPants,
how is one to find time to do everything? I have a full-time job with a bit of commute; I like reading, knitting, surfing the web; I like to spend some time with my partner, both in and out of bed; there is always housework to be done; plus just rest and veg around sometimes; cooking and eating and sleeping are also good.
I have a bit of a chronic illness, which makes me quite tired most of the time and most things take quite a lot of energy. My doctor and I are working on this, but even with 8 1/2 hours of sleep I’m tired, which adds to my constraints (both by taking out awake-do-things time and by the tiredness). How, Auntie, how can I get do to everything I want to and have to, and still get some sleep and not be exhausted nor be a workaholic? (I’ve tried the workaholic bit and it didn’t work) How can I manage everything and still have some downtime and not explode? I am really at a loss, and time just slips from in between my fingers.
Signed,
Time-Deprived Chicken Butt
Dear TDCB,
If you ever find the answer to this, please let me know.
I’ve recently learned to dye and spin yarn! Along with that there’s needle felting, making purses from recycled sweaters, reading books, talking to friends, hanging out with my sister, learning new recipes and sleeping! When do I find time to get back to my real passion, crocheting? ha! Almost never!
You prioritize the best you can, I will put some days aside for specific activities like dyeing or sewing. As for housework…no idea. There are always at least 6 things far more rewarding than marching a pile of underpants through the various stages of being clean and put away.
Incidentally, I’m looking for a little army of workers to do all the mundane things. They should be pretty small and enjoy living in the basement or under the sink. If anyone knows where I can get one of these armies, please let me know!

It’s a shorty column this week, but hopefully I got it in under the wire!

copyright 2009 heather ward/bubbodesigns