Sadly, it has come to my attention that yet men have the better end of the deal when it comes to the dividing of the cave chores. I know.... I know.... you are probably mentioning to your screen that this is very far from the truth. The required moving of boulders, clearing of brush and since the ice age hit.... removal of snow is actually hard work. It takes stamina and strength to achieve the intended goal. Yep, I can hear the primal grunting as I type this and the prehistoric chest pounding he-man actions, pounding the statement home.... "Me man! Me strong!... You woman! You too weak to do man work!" Oh, give me a break!!!! Yard work needs less daily attending to compared to housework.....
While I will agree that a boulder weighs more than a feather duster, I have to wonder..... How in the heck did I end up with getting both jobs? I am obviously a woman since I attend to the care of the inside of this cave, but I also happen to take care of things on the outside, too. What is that all about???
Growing up, I did chores. I have no doubt that everyone did a chore or two for their parents. It really depended upon what that task was, but we all did something. I remember mowing the lawn and shoveling snow. Of course, I was not required to do that at my childhood home. I have an older brother that was told to do it. When I did yard work, I did it to earn some extra cash. Nope, when I was growing up... I was given the indoor chores; washing dishes, doing laundry, vacuuming, dusting, cleaning my room. I mean, I knew why I was required to do the indoor jobs... my mom told me to do them. After getting married, she told me that a well functioning home had jobs for the specific sexes.... Women took care of the maintenance of the home, while men attended to the yard and fixed broken things. Well, I have managed to blur that line in the sand and I have nobody to blame, but myself...
This is the time of year that I manage to take on additional chores at this cave I call home. All because I have less resolve to not just get the job done when it needs to get done. What I am talking about is.... snow. As I wait with shovel at the ready, I will be taking on the task of snow removal yet again this year. Trust me when I say this.... When autumn comes and the leaves fall, I am out in my yard with the leaf blower, the lawn mower and a pile of lawn bags. Now, I am not as crazed as a neighbor of mine that managed to mow her lawn every other day, but you can tell a difference between the end result of leaf removal when I do it compared to when DH does it. This past fall, I held my ground and had DH take care of the leaves. It took every ounce of patience to see that task get done and I am on frayed nerve when it comes to the upcoming predicted snowfall, so I have my trusty shovel waiting for me in the garage. DH has far stronger resolve to not bother shoveling and does not mind the packed snow tread marks in the driveway or the packed boot-laden path on the sidewalk. As for me.... it is a thorn in my side, but an actual appreciated task to take on. You see, I live with 2 clutter typhoons I lovingly call DH and DD. I will admit that I am far from perfect, but when it comes down to leaving a mess.... well, they will always win hands-down. When I clean, my efforts are destroyed in the first hour that they are home. When I shovel? I get the sense of accomplishment that I am only dealing with nature and when the snow stops.... my efforts are not in threat of being trashed in an hour and manage to stay clean. What a wonderful feeling, but sadly, my determination to do that task makes me a more modern and self-sufficient woman.
While that seems to be small potatoes, I happen to take on other tasks that I probably should not, but do anyway. I fix broken stuff. Now, it is not the complex stuff that I know that DH is more apt to do, but if push came to shove.... I could probably figure it out and do it myself. I am not afraid of tools, I even have slightly attained knowledge of where all the emergency shut-off stuff is... I can shut the water off to the house and I know how to change a fuse. Heck, if I was not married to a mechanic, I could even change the oil in my truck. That, my friends, makes me far too modern for my own good. Since DH is aware that I am perfectly capable of doing these things, he has managed to avoid doing more around the house... you know, take on those prehistoric tasks that have been handed down from generation to generation.
My question to you all is this..... How can I re-shift the focus on getting him to reclaiming those tasks? Really, if there is a man in the house.... why not get him to do stuff, too? UGH! I fear that my fate has been sealed! I have 2 small projects that I can easily do myself, but would rather have him take a more active role in this house. One is to fix a leaking faucet that I know I can easily fix myself and the other is to replace a handle on a bedroom door (also, easy for me to do). There is one other task, but I have to go to the store to see if I could find a replacement shower nozzle to the shower downstairs. Apparently, the attachment is not standard and I have to remove the nozzle to find a match in connection. I really dread that task since I hate shopping, but I cannot stand looking at DH's patchwork of duct tape holding it together. Some things really need to be replaced around here. I have looked at that cracked shower head nozzle for as long as I have lived here, but I will say that I am impressed with the staying power that duct tape happens to have. I just happen to shake my down-turned head in shame that all those tools he has gotten over the years happen to be used by me far more than it has been by him around this house. Oh well, time to open the tool box and fix some stuff because repeating my pleas for assistance have been falling on deaf ears.....
Thanks for reading and have a great day!
Growing up, I did chores. I have no doubt that everyone did a chore or two for their parents. It really depended upon what that task was, but we all did something. I remember mowing the lawn and shoveling snow. Of course, I was not required to do that at my childhood home. I have an older brother that was told to do it. When I did yard work, I did it to earn some extra cash. Nope, when I was growing up... I was given the indoor chores; washing dishes, doing laundry, vacuuming, dusting, cleaning my room. I mean, I knew why I was required to do the indoor jobs... my mom told me to do them. After getting married, she told me that a well functioning home had jobs for the specific sexes.... Women took care of the maintenance of the home, while men attended to the yard and fixed broken things. Well, I have managed to blur that line in the sand and I have nobody to blame, but myself...
This is the time of year that I manage to take on additional chores at this cave I call home. All because I have less resolve to not just get the job done when it needs to get done. What I am talking about is.... snow. As I wait with shovel at the ready, I will be taking on the task of snow removal yet again this year. Trust me when I say this.... When autumn comes and the leaves fall, I am out in my yard with the leaf blower, the lawn mower and a pile of lawn bags. Now, I am not as crazed as a neighbor of mine that managed to mow her lawn every other day, but you can tell a difference between the end result of leaf removal when I do it compared to when DH does it. This past fall, I held my ground and had DH take care of the leaves. It took every ounce of patience to see that task get done and I am on frayed nerve when it comes to the upcoming predicted snowfall, so I have my trusty shovel waiting for me in the garage. DH has far stronger resolve to not bother shoveling and does not mind the packed snow tread marks in the driveway or the packed boot-laden path on the sidewalk. As for me.... it is a thorn in my side, but an actual appreciated task to take on. You see, I live with 2 clutter typhoons I lovingly call DH and DD. I will admit that I am far from perfect, but when it comes down to leaving a mess.... well, they will always win hands-down. When I clean, my efforts are destroyed in the first hour that they are home. When I shovel? I get the sense of accomplishment that I am only dealing with nature and when the snow stops.... my efforts are not in threat of being trashed in an hour and manage to stay clean. What a wonderful feeling, but sadly, my determination to do that task makes me a more modern and self-sufficient woman.
While that seems to be small potatoes, I happen to take on other tasks that I probably should not, but do anyway. I fix broken stuff. Now, it is not the complex stuff that I know that DH is more apt to do, but if push came to shove.... I could probably figure it out and do it myself. I am not afraid of tools, I even have slightly attained knowledge of where all the emergency shut-off stuff is... I can shut the water off to the house and I know how to change a fuse. Heck, if I was not married to a mechanic, I could even change the oil in my truck. That, my friends, makes me far too modern for my own good. Since DH is aware that I am perfectly capable of doing these things, he has managed to avoid doing more around the house... you know, take on those prehistoric tasks that have been handed down from generation to generation.
My question to you all is this..... How can I re-shift the focus on getting him to reclaiming those tasks? Really, if there is a man in the house.... why not get him to do stuff, too? UGH! I fear that my fate has been sealed! I have 2 small projects that I can easily do myself, but would rather have him take a more active role in this house. One is to fix a leaking faucet that I know I can easily fix myself and the other is to replace a handle on a bedroom door (also, easy for me to do). There is one other task, but I have to go to the store to see if I could find a replacement shower nozzle to the shower downstairs. Apparently, the attachment is not standard and I have to remove the nozzle to find a match in connection. I really dread that task since I hate shopping, but I cannot stand looking at DH's patchwork of duct tape holding it together. Some things really need to be replaced around here. I have looked at that cracked shower head nozzle for as long as I have lived here, but I will say that I am impressed with the staying power that duct tape happens to have. I just happen to shake my down-turned head in shame that all those tools he has gotten over the years happen to be used by me far more than it has been by him around this house. Oh well, time to open the tool box and fix some stuff because repeating my pleas for assistance have been falling on deaf ears.....
Thanks for reading and have a great day!
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