Saturday, November 3, 2007

Does Your Man Do Housework?


Yup, mine does and yup, all the good ones are taken.

This morning, DH ventured into the unknown to clean the master bathroom. Since we have separate vanities, he typically just goes all out on his but leaves my space alone. That's pretty safe because I'm happy that he does his so I don't complain that he doesn't do mine too. Besides, I'm not wild about having to confront things that I've been avoiding and my vanity falls into that category. You could easily win one of those "purse bingo" contests by standing in my section of the master bath. In addition to the myriad of makeup and beauty products, you could find extra buttons, safety pins, scissors, vacation souvenirs, magazines and loose change. That's the short list. He had pretty much hit his tolerable limit of the black hole on my counter. When I returned to the bathroom, there was a stack of my stuff that needed to be sorted, discarded, put away or at least organized. He cleared it all off, scrubbed the counter and sink, cleaned the mirror and polished the faucet. I think he even restocked my Q-tip holder. Then he even asked me if I was upset with him. Pfft. All I can say is thank goodness he doesn't have a blog of his own to show before and after pictures. It looks great now.

It's kind of a bittersweet thing for me that he's so helpful. I love the fact that he is willing to chip-in, but it makes me feel like I'm not able to be supermom like moms are supposed to be. I'm not one to ask for help. So when DH goes to help with the laundry and asks "Which load of laundry do you want to do next," I pick out the "you" and get up to do it myself. What he is really trying to ask is which load do I consider the priority so he can get it started. I realize that, but I still feel guilty when he is helping.

Everyone that knows me realizes that I'm not an impeccable housewife. SAHM stands for stay-at-home-mom, not a stay-at-home-maid. I don't claim to be the best at housekeeping, but I do what I can. I should say that I do what I can when I feel like it. Just the other day I mopped the entire kitchen and dining room. But more often than not, I just don't feel like it. When it comes to chores, my focus is always on the dishes and the laundry because I have to do those daily or I end up falling behind. I run the dishwasher daily and hate it when dishes pile up on the countertop. The rest of the house can be a disaster, but one plate and glass on the counter will set me off. We have dogs that shed, so I vacuum a few times a week. That's not including the stairs which I get around to doing much less often. But even at a few times a week with the vacuum along with dusting once per week, you can't really tell. The chaos left from the kids makes it always look messy. When the PJ drawer in Miss K's room would no longer close properly, I spent a bunch of time reorganizing and refolding everything. That evening, she pulled everything out of the drawer in an attempt to locate a particular item, then shoved it all back in. Sigh. What a waste of time that turned out to be because the drawer doesn't close again.

So… dishes, laundry, some vacuuming/dusting - Everything else takes a backseat. We're talking waaay back as in backwards-facing-seat-in-the-station-wagon backseat. I'm looking forward to eventually having a playroom for the kids so that the toys will have one place to congregate. I will easily be able to pack up all misplaced kid stuff and return it to its home in the playroom. The girls are getting to the age where they help unload the dishwasher and sometimes help with the laundry. At least that's progress.

In the meantime, thank goodness that DH pitches in to keep us spic and span!

Yup, all the good ones are taken and I'm glad this ones mine.

1 comments:

  • Michele

    Be so grateful he helps you. My hubbie comments often on how dirty this or that is but he never offers to clean anything himself. I've taken to responding to his comments like this: Well then perhaps you should sweep the floor or clean the counters or whatever fits the comment : )

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