the best week ever

today is the start of what i think will be the best week ever. let me explain...

recently i borrowed The Guinea Pig Diaries from the library. a very entertaining book where the author lives out experiments concocted in his head or suggested by others. one of the experiments is to spend a month agreeing to his wife's every command. lucky for me, aaron read a few chapters of the book and this happened to be one of them. he decided he should do the same for me, but try for a week instead. i like the idea of a month because, as we all know, it takes a month for habits to form and i would greatly enjoy some new habits (such as doing the dishes every single night). however, i'm very excited for this week. i've already laid some ground rules of what can and cannot happen during the week and a small 'to do' list is waiting for aaron on the bed. i'll let you know how the experiment goes!

i've decided to chronicle the week.
tuesday: i put aaron through the ringer with chores today. nothing crazy, but all the piles of things that needed to be put away were driving me nuts! a lot of laundry. i pitched in with the chores. it's not in my nature to sit and watch. but, he was a great sport about it all and even got in the spirit of westley by answering my requests with "as you wish".
wednesday: a few simple chores were waiting for him on a list when he got home. he offered to make dinner and go grocery shopping, but i declined. let's not go crazy yet. i explained to aaron that i'm not trying to keep him busy with boring tasks via 'to do' lists, but rather asking him to do all the things i normally do in a week. i think the thing i'm loving the most is when i ask for something to be done it is done instantly, not in 10 minutes or an hour. i don't think i'm letting the power go to my head, but rather my need to accomplish is being enabled. what am i going to do when this is over?
thursday: there was no 'to do' list today. aaron came to a class with me at the gym and gave up watching most of game one of the NBA finals, which is a large sacrifice for him. i wanted to go running friday morning before work and he agreed to do so, if i wanted him to. which i did. that is also huge for him because he has a hard time waking up in the morning. we even got into a little disagreement and i said, "not this week, it's my week!". the quarrel disappeared just like that! probably not the best use of my power, i admit, but it was nice.
friday: a small 'to do' list awaiting him at home after work. we mostly hung out at home that night, but aaron discovered the chores come before the playing. a perfect night for me. i'm starting to sound like attila the hun.
saturday: today was a day mostly free from chores. magical because they happened during the week! we had the temple in the morning, running at the bay after the temple, relaxed a bit around the house, then headed to a housewarming party for some friends. i did command him to sit against his will at the temple and he held his tongue when i didn't know some driving directions, so that was nice. he said no to me once and i looked at him in shock. once he realized what he did his eyes got big and he had a very remorseful look on his face. what fun. but, trouble in paradise was developing. i very much do not like being pacified with fake undertones. i think it was momentary rebellion. we had a chat and it soon stopped.
sunday: no large chores today. it is the sabbath after all. just small things to keep the house running. it's been so nice to have my least favorite chores done. also, i have loved maintaining control of the tv, radio, and general activities. i tried to order an extension of the week, but it didn't work. i asked him tonight if the week has been better or worse than he thought. he said it was better because he thought i would have ordered him to do much more work (see? i am a kind dictator) and noticed that at times when he would have normally put up a fight about something or made a side comment he bit his tongue and agreed or made no remark. when he did this he found harmony was kept and the thing he wanted to say turned out to be not so important after all. i married a smart man. i should learn from him.
monday: i was very sad to have the final day come and go. aaron completed the last of his chores for the week. today was a pretty yucky one (cleaning the floor and walls behind and around the toilet), but it was done with no complaints. i must say i am going to miss things being done so quickly. i'm also going to miss writing down whatever chores come to mind while i'm getting ready for work in the morning and knowing they'll be done by the time i get home. oh well. it was nice while it lasted. and i think i have gleaned some valuable information in the process. as aaron mentioned what he learned, i realized that is something i should be doing as well and have decided to work on that going forward. i have hopes that this experiment will happen again. maybe that will be my birthday wish. along with another season of golden girls.