Go-fers

When my husband starts a project, whether around the house, with one of the vehicles or in the yard, there is one thing I can count on.  At some point, I will be his official go-fer.  Go-fer this part.  Go-fer that tool.  Go-fer this thing or that.  I don't mind the go-fering, per se.  But when I don't exactly know what I'm shopping for, I can just about bet I'll have to call home for further information at one point or another.

Some go-fering trips are more challenging than others.  For instance, when hubby doesn't know what the technical term for something is, which is what happened when he sent me for what he called 'gutter clips'.  As it turns out, there was nothing labeled 'gutter clips' but several things that I could visualize as being 'gutter clips'.  I used the camera on my phone to snap shots of various 'clips' so he could choose just which ones he wanted me to get.

When I was shopping for tile and the supplies to install it, my husband had full confidence I could do that myself while he kept working on our new bathroom.  The tile was mentally exhausting for me, but something I eventually was able to settle on with a little reassurance from my mother that it would look great.  But the supplies, that was another story.  I don't know how many phone calls I had to make to ask him about the grout...quick setting or not.  Sealer...spray on type or roll on type.  Adhesive...big bucket or little bucket.  

Then there's the calls he makes to me while I'm running these little errands so he can add more and more items to my shopping list.  I cannot tell you how many times I have had to leave the check out line to go get one more thing or back track through a store to find something else he needs. 

I have often told him it might be faster if he would just get what he needs himself.  After all, he isn't getting that much done here at home if he's had to be on the phone with me half a dozen times.  And truthfully, it can be very frustrating searching for things I'm not familiar with in stores filled with things I'm clueless about. 

I'm not sure my husband has fully appreciated just how arduous these kinds of shopping trips can be until now.  For the last two weeks, while I have been off my feet, he and our sons have been doing the grocery shopping.  Not just stopping and picking up a couple things...the whole family-sized, week's worth, heavy haul grocery shopping.

I will give them credit.  They have done a fine job doing something that ranks high on my list of most time consuming chores.  But even with a very detailed list, laid out for them row by row through the grocery store with name brands and prices included for advertised items, I think they still had to call home six or eight times today while shopping to double check on things.  They were legitimate questions, such as could Swiss steak be substituted for round steak if the price per pound is the same and does it matter if the soft shells for tacos come off the shelf or from the refrigerated section, but I couldn't help but chuckle as call after call came in.

I think today he and the boys have a much deeper appreciation of what I do week in and week out, but they also understand that being a go-fer isn't always as easy as it seems.  I know next time he sends me out on some great mission at a big box home improvement store, he'll have a little more empathy for me if I have to keep calling home for help.