It's the little things.

I think every young marriage, or couple who have moved in together, have certain balances to find. Specifically right now, I'm thinking of housework, and all that it entails - cooking, dishes, laundry, ironing, general cleaning; even locking up the house at night, or sorting out your bunnies.

I doubt it's ever easy to find this balance, but when you're both ill, it becomes much harder. We are lucky, we have parents who come over every week to help keep on top of the dishes, the ironing, the hoovering... You name it, really.

I often think, that for a healthy couple, it must be more a case of "who has the time?", and "who can be bothered?" However, we have an added third element of "who's well enough?" With the phrase "well enough" being very open to interpretation.

Whether it's because I'm the healthier one, or because I'm female, or because I like things clean and tidy... I end up doing a lot of the household stuff. And I mind for one simple reason - doing something as small as soaking a muddy pair of jeans to be washed can cripple my arms and hands to the point I can barely use them for the rest of the day. It's not just a sacrifice of time, it's a sacrifice of a lot of energy and pain reserves to just keep our house ticking over.

I can't begin to imagine how much art I could do without housework...

Which is why, if my husband is well enough to lock the front door one night, or empty the dishwasher one morning, it's almost as precious as being given flowers. It's him thinking of doing something, and sacrificing a bit of his health to keep us going. And I know how much that costs.

Disclaimer: my husband is more helpful than this makes him sound ;)