Being a builder’s wife is no easy feat, though of course it comes with its rewards, I thought I should share some of my secrets for all my readers who are in a similar position.
My Top 10 Tips on The Traits You Need To Be A Builder’s Wife
- Patience; Without it you’ll never make it. You will require patience when he comes home tired and cranky as a bear, you will need it when you go to do the washing and find 20 nails in his pocket. You’ll need it when he forgets to take his boots off downstairs and leaves mud all over the front deck. You’ll need a tonne of patience!
- Organisation; Let’s face it, boys are not so good on the organisation front, this is where you will be most valuable. You’ll need to use these skill in all manner of ways, organising his day, organising his clients selections, organising the workers. There are many ways in which your level of organisation will assist you both.
- Patience; Oh my goodness, you will need a whole bunch of patience when he forgets to tell you that a rep is coming to visit you in your home office.
- Fixer; You’ll need to be a fixer, for those days when he is stuck on the job and can’t get home to the kids like he thought he might, or those days when something goes wrong on the job and he’s stuck there for hours after he should be home.You’ll need to be the fixer when a fellow tradie lets you down and you need to find a replacement asap, or when stock hasn’t arrived on site when it should have. Being a fixer is a very handy trait.
- Patience; Your going to need plenty of patience when he’s run out of time to get his portion of the paperwork done, and it’s preventing you from doing your work. This is especially noticeable, when your have an appointment with friends for coffee, and you have to cancel to catch up on work that could have been done a week ago.
- Seamstress; On a weekly basis, The Builder will come home with another button missing or a hole in his shirt. Having a few sewing skills up your belt will be essential.
- Nursing; I have only shared a few of The Builder’s injuries on the blog, but on a weekly basis I will be called on to extract a splinter or a log from a finger, or patch up the latest burn or cut. A good first aid kit, you cannot do without.
- Cook; Unless you want your builder to grow substantially around the waist line, it will be beneficial for you to be able to pull together a healthy lunch. The trade standard of a coffee milk and a meat pie just wont’ cut it.
- Accountant; The Builder doesn’t have a lot of time to a lot of the paperwork or the financial planning, fortunately I don’t mind this part of the job. I’m not a huge lover of paperwork, but I do love the satisfaction of it being done. Oh and money, I’ll happily work with money all day every day:)
- PATIENCE; just in case I didn’t make the point clear enough earlier, patience is the most crucial element of being a builder’s wife. You will practice it everyday!
That is my tongue in check look at what it takes to be a builder’s wife. The truth is I love my Builder, and am at my happiest working by his side, I wouldn’t change a thing, even if it did take me a few years to grasp the patience thing.
What traits do you require to be with your significant other? How do you think a job description would write for a builder’s wife?
Nicole xxx
Patience and organisational skills! My husband works for an auction company and he travels a lot. When work calls, he responds, which often means going away for a week, two weeks or more, at a time. This means I’m often a sole parent, attending children’s events on my own and dealing with the everyday issues of the kids. I’m used to it now, but it took a while! ?
It’s hard stuff dealing with the kids on your own, I often feel like a single mother, not that The Builder goes away, so I can’t complain too much. xx
My husband is a painter and decorator and I can relate to the checking pockets thing so much! And the patience thing: Patience when you have the worst painted house in the neighborhood because they never want to paint their own house after painting everyone else’s all day! Gah!
This is so true Haidee, we’ve come to a stale mate with our renovations, nothing much has been done for the last 6 months. Hoping the Christmas break will be kind to us both ?
Ok, so the patience factor lets me out haha!
Very nearly does me too ?
My gosh you’ve got to be all over it as a builder’s wife! Where’s those extra set of arms when you need them? ? My hubby is a graphic designer, and patience is definitely a thing needed here too! Alongside dealing with random zone outs, weird arty farty airhead moments, being tested on ‘who’s design is better’ and understanding the difference between white and ecru. ? And my goodness lovely- so sorry! My baby brain is so far behind on everything at the moment- an email will be hitting you soon, I promise! xx
The only pressing matter that I struggle with is patience. The rest is truly not too bad ? And don’t stress when you have time is fine xxx
Haha, I hear you! And PATIENCE when the building that needs doing around your own house always, always, ALWAYS comes second to everyone else’s work! #teamIBOT
Oh YES! We have gotten so far with the reno’s and we’ve been sitting for the most part of the year. Fingers crossed the Christmas holidays see some improvement in the situation for us both ? xx
HAHHAHAHHAH I lobe how you have “patience” like five times! And my weeken warrior DIY hubby is the WORST for leaving nails and screws in his pockets. I always forget to check and find them after the fact. Couldn’t imagine dealing with that all the time. LOL!
You would think after 6 years I’d have the checking down pat, but no, I still forget ALL THE TIME! xx
Gosh I could never be one, I’m too impatient and none of the other great things that you are. I’ve been AWOL recently Nic, sorry! Big love and I hope all is well in your world xx
Don’t worry Em, I have my days ? Hope all things are well for you gorgeous, your trip looked amazing xxx
The nails in the pockets reminds me of what I used to have in my pockets when working on the tools- Allen keys and flat washers! Love how patience is in there a bit! I’d love to know what the builder requires in his wife? I wonder if he’d reply with patience? Great post. Xx
Ha ha, no patience required I’m perfect…….lol xx
Lucky I’m not married to a builder because patience is not my strong point! I love this list.
[…] on from last weeks post 10 traits you need to be a builder’s wife, I wanted to show that not everything is lovely in the world of working together, we drive each […]