Oh yeah, I have this husband guy, too

Kaity Holtman

Life is officially a whirlwind.

Sam is as busy of a kid as they come right now.

He is climbing everything, browsing books, dumping out puzzles (we’re still working on putting them back together), dancing, running, bringing us shoes to go outside … the list goes on forever.

Everyone who watches him for two minutes says something along the lines of, “He’s such a busy kid.”

He also wears himself out and is ready for bed early enough that we get a moment to catch up.

The house-building process has been moving at lightning speed.

The outside is done except for the bricking, which is being done by some dedicated family members with outstanding masonry experience.

We’re moving right along with the inside too.

There are so many decisions to be made, some days my head spins. And I have had to remind myself multiple times that these decisions are not life or death, and where that electrical outlet goes is a decision I’ll forget about once it’s made.

But when things like the front door get installed, all those separate decisions start to come together and get so exciting.

We are so incredibly blessed that this whirlwind called life is ours.

But there is one person I forget to mention in most of my columns – that guy I promised to call mine for the rest of my life.

We’ve suddenly realized, this whole “making time for each other” thing is starting to require some real effort.

The frequent date nights we used to have are few and far between now. Most of our conversations are about Sam, the house, work, things that need to get done, and other mundane things.

We knew there would come a point, or multiple points, when we’d have to work harder to prioritize our marriage.

We have always believed that our relationships with God should come first, then our marriage, then our children.

I know a lot of people would disagree, that our children shouldn’t be our third priority, but we believe that we have to take care of one another and remain a team to really do justice to this whole parenting gig.

We went out, just the two of us, for our anniversary earlier this month.

While Sam is always entertaining at restaurants, flirting with waitresses and putting on a show for fellow diners, it was so nice to catch up with one another without cutting up extra food and picking up toys off the floor.

We went through a lot of hard times together before Sam got here – well really, to get Sam here. And we always felt like we grew closer together in those hard times.

Now that we’ve got all these exciting things happening, we have relaxed the efforts.

But we know we can’t continue to do that.

Husbands and wives have to prioritize one another in good times and bad, in sickness and health, you know the list.

I just never thought it might be more challenging to make time for each other during the good times than in the bad.

A live-and-learn realization moment I guess, but one we both identified together.

Life is crazy, and crazy good, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t take some effort along the way.

Kaity Holtman is the Agriculture Editor for the Maryville Daily Forum.