by Making Dinner Happen

“What’s for dinner?”

Hear those 3 little words every day for years on end and you’ll want to run screaming!

By any chance could that be how your wife feels right about now???

Even though I love to cook (or at least I did before I had to cook roughly 8,000 dinners for my family thus far!), a few years ago, I’d had about all I could take. I asked my husband if he could handle dinner just 1 night a week.

He heard me on how burdensome the planning, shopping, prepping, and cleaning up can be and so he took it on. Let me tell you, it’s been amazing.

And so… I thought I’d give you some food for thought (sorry – couldn’t resist!) on helping your wife bear the dinner burden:

1.Don’t wait for her to ask. If she’s the main cook in the family, she’s sick of it – guaranteed.

2. When it comes to handling dinner, surprises aren’t always good. If she’s already halfway done making dinner, you showing up with a pizza isn’t helpful – it’s downright frustrating. Make a plan ahead of time for you to do dinner on a certain night, or give her a call at around 3:00 that day – if she doesn’t have a clue what to make for dinner that night, she’ll love you for taking it off her shoulders and if she already has a plan in place, you were sweet to ask anyway and you didn’t derail anything.

3. Don’t just hit the default button. Takeout is OK sometimes, but frankly, she can place an order just as easily as you can. The real burden of handling dinner is taking into consideration health, budget, variety, and every family member’s likes and dislikes. Get on board with that – even if it’s just grabbing fajita ingredients or pre-made kebabs from the grocery store butcher or making omelets with some healthy toppings for everyone to choose from.

4. Even when you don’t cook, help her out with the planning. Thinking of simple, healthy meal ideas (in other words, don’t ask her to make a standing rib roast every Thursday!) is hugely helpful. After all, coming up with what to have is at least half the battle!

Oh, and lastly, don’t ask her what’s for dinner. Just don’t. Ever.  Instead, simply ask, “Can I help with dinner tonight?”

Written by UNCOMMEN Contributor, Deb Mitchell