Originally posted February 9, 2007...
I have "issues", or so my husband says. I can't rest until all of the chores are done. I can't go to bed if there are dirty dishes, or if things haven't been picked up. I can't wake up in the morning to having my house in disarray. It just makes me feel anxious.
He says that I am obsessive compulsive, I personally do not think that I am that bad. Anyone that has ever read Women are from Mars, Men are from Venus...knows that women and men see the world differently. I walk into my den...and can immediately spot 10 things that need to be picked up. Aside from the big screen tv, the recliner and the remote, my husband is completely unaware that there are even 10 other things in the room, much less things that need to be picked up.
In fact, he was watching the baby one morning, the girls were also in the room. Apparently one of the dogs had decided to poop underneath the coffee table. Since Cole had just started crawling, he wasn't fast at it yet. I entered the room and saw that the baby was trying to scoot underneath the coffee table, presumably so that he could get himself a poo snack. Now, the other three people in the room were paying ZERO attention to the fact that Cole was about to eat that turd. I have to wonder about that. I mean...SURELY, one of them would have noticed that it smelled "fresh turdish". Uh, no. All three of them..."we had NO idea!". hmmm.
Interestingly, I have found that joking with him about things that need attention has proved to be the best method of getting him to act on things. He doesn't care for doing yard work. Me either. But, since I don't have seasonal work (ie...yard work) and my chores NEVER end, outside work is his by default. However, he doesn't do it with any kind of regularity. This past summer the grass got so high, I couldn't see our dogs out in the yard. So, one morning, I got up early...he was sleeping, but I woke him up to ask him what the procedures were for starting up the riding mower, and then I asked where the brakes on it were. That last question got him up. He said, "umm...whatcha need to know that for?" I said that I understood how busy he was and I was going to go out there and mow the yard with his riding lawn mower. He JUMPED out of the bed..."whoa whoa whoa...you don't need to do that. I was going to do that as soon as I got up today". Me: Oh, I don't mind. If you could just tell me what that "choke thingie" means, that would be helpful.
For the record, the last time I used a riding lawnmower, I ran over a very large stump. I swear...I never saw it. But, I ruined the blade and he had to spend a great deal of time fixing it. Needless to say, he was outside within minutes mowing the yard. ANYTHING, to have me not use his tools or equipment.
We had lightbulbs that had blown in the kitchen. In fact, ALL of them had blown but the one above the sink. It was like a bear cave in there. I had asked him and asked him to replace the bulbs. "ok, babe...I'll get to it...(insert some OTHER time here)". So finally one night, I cooked dinner by flashlight. HIS flashlight. The one that takes like 10 batteries to operate and weighs 15 lbs. He comes in...asks why do I have HIS flashlight? lol...I just walked over to the light switches, flicked them on and off, which produced the intended effect of zero light...and he said, "well, why didn't you tell me that you needed the bulbs replaced, I will do it right NOW". And he did. And took the flashlight away from me, which suited me just fine, that thing is HEAVY.
So what's todays lesson? If you want the job done...just go and get one of his tools and act like you are going to do the job yourself. Even better...refer to something about his tools as a "thingie". Works....everytime.
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