Love Stinks

It occured to me today, albeit not the first time, that love is hard. Loving your spouse, to be exact, is hard. It is messy. And sometimes it stinks. Really. I mean it. Literally, it can stink.

True, sometimes it's super easy to love your man. Like when he takes the kids on Saturday morning so you can sleep in. Or when they bring home a fallen magnolia blossom just because they know you like them. Or when you see them as a dad, all-out enjoying their kids, it's easy to love them. But alas, on days like today it's a little bit harder. On days like today it really stinks.

This hit me today as I crawled into the horse-sized dog crate armed with 409, paper towels, and plastic forks. (oh, yes, it was a job that required scraping...and I wasn't about to use my REAL utensils) I did this outside in the rain, after hauling the crate upstairs from the basement. The dog was already chained outside as I did this, one hand clawing the front grate of the kennel, the other arm above my head for balance. But Anlynn didn't realize that and asked mid-flight, "Is Max still in there?" She asked it with such awe and adoration that I was tempted to say yes. I guess it's enough of an ego boost to know that my 5 year old thought that maybe I could haul a Shetlin Pony up the stairs single-handedly.

Where do you start with a task like this? I grabbed the poop smeared blanket and took it directly to the trash can. I crouched down to get a better view of the damage. In the rain, I mentioned that, right? Dog food bowl: smeared with poo. Bottom of crate: smeared with poop. Sides of crate: also smeared with poo. I started with paper towels to the big globs. Then used the plastic fork to scrape stubborn pieces. Then I sprayed the whole thing down with 409. I had to actually climb into the crate to accomplish this. It's big enough for me. I could have shut the grate and sat quite comfortably for hours, sans poop.

During all this I was really tempted to leave this mess for my husband to clean up. Afterall, this is his dog, the one he wanted. But as I scrubbed the back of the kennel with my backside to the rain, holding my breath, I thought about how hurt my husband might be if I really did leave the mess for him. And it was then that I figured out that love does stink sometimes, but it's worth it because sometimes he brings home a magnolia blossom. But more than that, it's worth the stinkiness and poop smeared hands because I know that I did this for my husband because I love him, and that's just what you do sometimes. Love stinks. But sometimes it's as sweet as a magnolia blossom.