Sunday, June 22, 2008

How's that for supportive?

About 8 months ago, my husband stopped drinking. Life was getting hard to manage, our marriage was in a terrible state, and we were both running from our problems in different ways. His involved a lot of drinking. One horrible night it all changed. But it's changed for the better. He decided to stop drinking entirely. No easing off a bit, no cutting back. Not a single sip of alcohol in over 8 months.

I'm very proud of him. It takes a lot of courage, and he's done it with grace. He still hangs out with people who drink, he never tries to make anyone else feel bad about their drinking. He not preachy about it. He just sits quietly and drinks soda.

I've tried really hard to be supportive of his choice, and not add to his stress level about it. I generally don't drink around him. It's had the side effect of my not drinking much at all. Generally 1 or 2 drinks out with friends, and then I'm done. We don't hang out at bars together, and I try to encourage him to go out to activities that don't focus on drinking (while his dart league is at bars, it's still an activity he can focus on rather than just drinking). We don't have beer in the fridge anymore, and only wine that I use for cooking.

Anyway, there's a point to this story. I thought I'd been a good wife, doing all the right things to support his decision. And then he comes down stairs this morning.

Husband: "That new soap in the bathroom... it doesn't smell like pink grapefruit".

Me(slightly irritated, why doesn't he like the freakin soap, it was on sale!!): "Yes, it does. What do you think it smells like?"

Husband: "It smells exactly like Southern Comfort".

Me:(really irritated) "No it doesn't. But if you want, we can switch it with the one in the kitchen."

Husband: "No, seriously it does. I'll prove it". Goes to the cabinet, pulls out an old bottle of SoCo, and makes me smell it... at 9am.

Me:"Oh God! I can't believe all these months of sobriety, and I'm sabotaging it with the hand soap!!!!".

It's true. Method brand hand soap, pink grapefruit scent smells exactly like Southern Comfort. Eeeek! That poor man, I've been sabotaging him all week with his greatest weakness... the scent of SoCo. Bad wife, bad, bad, bad!

1 comment:

Cheysu said...

I thought the soap would smell like..... something else.