Da Mens

This picture is from our wedding, a last goodbye with my childhood girlfriends before heading out to Vegas. We had no idea what was going on behind us, and for years I was annoyed our friend “ruined” the picture. Now I find it hysterical, he is who he is and he likes to get attention, good or bad, it’s a win. He is also currently overseeing care of his elderly parents…which makes him one of the…da mens.

Yesterday, a conversation confirmed that when my brother was staying at our house lovingly protecting my mom from his COVID kids (while we frolicked in California)…he slept on a bed with no sheets. For days. For days, a grown man with a PhD slept wrapped in a quilt, I wasn’t on the mattress, it’s all good, no worries. This too is a da mens situation.

Our babysitter used to go…tsk tsk tsk, head shake, da mens when she found an off situation around the house. Da mens are wonderful people, they love their wives, play with their kids, and can cook a mean frittata…they also open mail leaving the envelopes on the counter, forget to put the toilet seat down, and tend to leave socks ev-ver-ry-where.

Da Mens.

I swore I would not raise a “da man”. Our son…in addition to being kind, respecting all humans, working hard, and loving his family…would pick up after himself, put things back in their place, and never in a million years would he leave a dish NEXT to the sink. We failed on part two of that equation.

Da mens popped in my head after reading a Reddit “Am I The A**hole?” entry. A woman wanted to know if she was TA because she wanted her husband to use the extra bathroom for his morning 45 minute smelly videogame playing poopathon. She thought it seemed fair that she get ready for work where all her prep tools and products were…in a pleasant smelling space. He did not. So, she reached out to the world…literally the world…asking if she was an a**hole. My initial reaction after reading it was eyeroll, da mens…but that is so wrong. This guy is not a da mens, he is a caveman…and she most certainly was not the a**hole.*

Swoon…our babysitter had it right…she gives a scold and a hug at the same time, she loves her da mens… and they love her right back.

*for those who think I am being too judgmental about the poopathoner please read the Reddit thread.