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M Simone Boyd

How to Ask Your Hubby for Help

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Photo from Hello Beautiful

I’ve hit the jackpot twice. First, when I was born into my family. And second, when Morris, my husband, asked me to marry him. Being raised in a loving, family of eight children has taught me about people, how families operate, and how to overcome the challenges that life brings every day. I’ve also learned from being married for 15 months.

 

And, my friends often ask me, “What should I look for in a husband?” “How is married life?” and “What advice do you have?”

 

And, I said to myself “Self, what if you could help your friends and others avoid your mistakes?” I did not answer myself, because that would just be crazy. But I hope you, as the reader, will learn from my mistakes and not repeat them.

 

I recently learned how to ask my husband for help.

I found that it is different from asking my brothers for assistance. Asking my brothers for help was more like telling them to do something. And, Morris was having none of that.

A few months ago, I mentioned to Morris that we had a friend’s barbecue to attend. Admittedly, I did not give him much advance notice, the affair was an hour and ten minutes away, and he had never met these friends.  But, he was getting barbecue out of the deal!
 

And, I could not figure out why I was getting the “almost silent treatment.”  The “almost silent treatment” consists of one-word responses, shrugs, and grunts. Finally, I figured it out. I had taken away his time, and Morris was grumpy.We talked about it, and I learned from that experience.

And, this spring…I got the asking right.
While sitting at our monthly budget meeting, I broached the subject of spring cleaning. I was a bit timid at first. “Hey, honey, you know there is a lot of work to be done around here…have you seen how dirty those base boards are? We are going to have to do some serious spring cleaning.”

After a bit of back and forth, Morris agreed to block off a Saturday for the benefit of cleanliness and order in our home. Success!

 

Because I’m Baptist, I’ll give you three tips on how to ask
your hubby for help:


  1. CONSIDER HIS PLANS

Show him that you are not selfish. Ask if he has plans.

 

  1. ASK EARLY, AND REMIND HIM

The bigger the task, the more time he needs to mentally prepare. I asked three married/engaged guys about this subject, and all of them said the same thing. “Ask early, and remind me.”

 

  1. DO NOT CONVEY A SENSE OF URGENCY IF IT IS NOT URGENT 

As women, we often like to do things now, simply because we’re thinking about it. But, things don’t always have to be done right now. Let’s not confuse the important with the urgent. So, when there is an urgent need…our men will run to the rescue.

Financial Peace

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 “75 Percent of the marriages that end in divorce, end because of finances.” That’s what our Deacon told us during one of our premarital counseling. And, it made me think…”if Morris and I could get on the same page with regards to finances, we could avoid a lot of headache and drama down the road.”

So, we enrolled in a class at our church called Financial Peace University. The course was two hours a week for 12-weeks, and it was grueling. There were chapters to read, budgets to balance, conversations to have, etc. But, at the end of the course…we understood more about each other, how we view money, and how we hope to raise our children.

You see, Morris never had to go without anything as a child. Money for him, is simply a resource. I, on the other hand, view money as security.

Growing up in a family of eight children, made me believe money was always elusive. It always seemed that we never had enough. We frequently ate beans and rice, and rice and beans. And, I can remember having our electricity cut off a few times. But, my mother always tried to make it fun for us. We would light candles and “campout” in the living room. It is hard to raise a family of ten on $30,000, but my parents did it and still managed to give generously to others.

Morris and I plan to give generously also. But, right now we are focused on paying off our student loans (although we do give to our church). Since we began the Financial Peace plan in January of 2012, we have paid off $48,000 worth of debt.  We have $5,532.20 to go until we are debt-free, and it is exciting that we will soon reach our goal. But, I’m more excited that being on the same page with money has brought us so much closer together.

Matthew 6:21 says that “where your treasure is there will your heart be also.” And, both of hearts are in the same place- using money to build toward the future. And not, spending it on the latest gadgets, trends, or status symbols.

So, tell me. How do you view money and why?

ps: Four of our friends/family have taken the class, and one couple is already debt-free. Go Team Watkins!  You can read about their road to financial freedom here

A Family Reunion

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A few week’s ago we had a family reunion for my dad’s side of the family. It turned out great, but it was a rough road to get there. You see, my dad and his siblings don’t have parents anymore. My grandfather died in July of last year. And, he hadn’t been in the ground 6 hours before the fighting began among the siblings.

So, we, the grandchildren, staged a coup de ta.

We sat down and had a VERY long talk about how their sibling squabbling was affecting us as grandchildren/children. It wasn’t pretty. And, we realized that even we (the grandchildren) had some stuff to work out amongst ourselves.

But, the end result was good. Our parents agreed to let us take over the family reunion this year. They agreed not to talk negatively about each other… to each other. And, they agreed that we have to stay close even though their parents, our grandparents, are gone.

Our family is mending, and we had a great family reunion. Lots of good food, games, rest, a trip to see the Motown Revue, and a black bear stopped by for a visit. Thankfully, he didn’t stay too long.

Izo the Kitchen Ninja
Mushrooms and Asparagus
Kayla Cutting the Melons

My Brother, My New Sister, and My Cute Nephew
Scrabble
The Guys Watching the NBA Finals

Connect4 My Dad v. My Aunt

Our Family Photographer
A Night at the Motown Revue
My Pretty Cousin being Serenaded
My Aunt Being Serenaded






My brothers and cousins in the background dancing
A Bear Stopped for a Visit
He Tried to Get Some Food
And then he left

All of Us

A Model Mother

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If you have been following this blog for the past 19 months, you’ve meet 8 of my 12 family members.

My Family Fantastic

You’ve met my husband, dad, 4 of my 5 brothers, 1 of 2 sisters, and both my cute nephews. You have not read about my mom (Elizabeth), youngest sister (Shannel), or my fourth brother (Manny).

Let’s start with Elizabeth, because she is a model mother. My mother (a former Paris runway model) has lead quite an interesting life. She was chosen as one of a handful of students to integrate her school in 1964.  She then went on to become the first black homecoming queen of her university. Post-college Elizabeth went on to conquer the fashion world in Paris, Milan, and New York City.

Elizabeth in NYC Circa 1978

But then my dad (ever the salesman) convinced my mom to marry him and move down south. Elizabeth had  plans to be a fashion buyer for one of the local department stores, but then I arrived.

And, before I knew it…I had seven siblings and my family seemed quite strange in comparison to others.

Elizabeth home schooled most of us. Opted to have home births administered by midwives. Grew a lot of our food in the back yard. Eliminated the use of microwaves as a health precaution, and didn’t allow us to watch TV during the week. Looking back I can see that the tough decisions my mother made, shaped me and my siblings for the better. But, the strangeness of my family did not go unnoticed by our relatives.

As a result, most of our holidays were spent with just our clan. But, there is an upside to being isolated from extended family…me, my siblings, and my parents are a close-knit bunch.

I am especially close to my mother. Even though, I am married and live 700 miles away…we talk almost everyday. Whenever I go home for an extended period of time, my mother always finds time in her schedule to make my two favorite meals: spaghetti and fried fish. Because my mother is generous, kind, and enthusiastic. In fact, I can always tell when one of my siblings had a particularly challenging athletic event the evening before. Because she always sounds like an eighty-year old chain smoker when she loses her voice the day after.


Sometimes, however, my mother’s enthusiasm can get the best of her. I often tell her haste makes waste. Cut once measure twice. But, I think at this point she is just used to having 9 people depend on her. So, whenever she can get ahead of the game she aims to do so.

One such opportunity reared its head at Thanksgiving a few years ago, before I married Morris.

 

The Lifetime Wedding Planner

Thanksgiving is HUGE in my house, and it is the holiday that everyone tries to make it home for. We had all gathered around the table and were preparing to say the blessing, when my mother announced that she had a gift for me. My little sister ran to get the gift bag and handed it to me with a beaming smile.

The lovely gift bag held a beautiful book that my mother purchased on sale…The Lifetime Wedding Planner. It was complete with budgets, bows, envelopes and everything one needs to plan the perfect wedding. One minor problem. I wasn’t even dating anyone…and haven’t for several years. My five brothers erupted in laughter. And I, I wanted to crawl under a rock.Boy, did she get ahead of the game.

But, that book turned out to be quite handy when Morris and I got married last year.

I guess that’s what makes Elizabeth a model mother, because she thinks ahead and plans for what will be…not what is.