Hubby is not inherently lazy. He’s not stupid. He’s not incapable. He’s not even intentionally absentminded (or at least I don’t think he is). But he is, on many occasions, unable to complete full tasks. And, since we are both intelligent, hardworking adults, I have to admit… this baffles the ever-living-crap out of me.
Let me try to explain…..
- He carries his empty soda can into the kitchen and places it on the counter ABOVE the trash can
- He steps over his dirty clothes 50 times instead of bending down once to throw them in the laundry basket
- He takes the sponge to clean the kitchen counters after dinner but he doesn’t wipe down the table where we ate.
- He replaces the empty toothpaste but he doesn’t throw the old tube away.
It’s like he’s waiting for little fairies to appear overnight to magically complete everything he’s started OR.. perhaps….
He’s exercising that Man Rule I mentioned in an earlier post: The one that outlines how marriage offers a shared life that requires a man to do only ½ the work.
The irony here is that chores are not shared 50/50. They are literally split in half. As in, I’ll do half of the chore and I’ll leave the rest for you to finish.
Sometimes it seems that he’s literally just run out of gas in the middle of doing something. Or perhaps his mind has just drifted to football games or Guitar Hero or maybe it’s just shut off completely like a computer that all of a sudden goes into sleep mode. The mind of a woman is always going, but a man can somehow just shut his off. I’ve never understood it but it’s true. Have you ever asked a man, “what are you thinking about” and he responds “nothing”…. Don’t badger him for a better answer… it’s likely true…he’s not thinking at all. Men have the unique ability to actually shut off their mental faculties and go into a battery conservation, sleep mode, while they are awake.
So, knowing that I cannot get him out of sleep mode without “pressing any button”, I have no choice but to “wake him up” by pushing his buttons… and we all know where that usually winds up (which is a different topic altogether). So for now, I’ll get back to his attempts at these chores..
Is he putting forth effort? Yes.
Should he be applauded for helping? Yes.
Should I want to kick him, every time I have to finish his chores? Yes. (oh wait…. I meant No!)
Should I reward him with a treat every time he completes a task… hmmmmm, I might be onto something here!?
More often than not, it just falls under the category of…”if you want something done right, just do it yourself”. And, who knows maybe that’s really what he was striving for all along!!!
I think effort should count for something. If not full credit, at least partial credit. After all, I tend to be busy always doing 1000 things at any 1 time. Can you ima…………………………………………………………..
oops
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Honey… I love you and you absolutely get partial credit BUT….. following football scores, while paying video games, while drinking beer, while eating potato chips, while talking to the dog does not qualify as “doing 1000 things at any 1 time”. Sorry babe! 🙂
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I have resigned myself to the fact that it’s the effort that counts. Expecting anything more than that is just setting myself up for insanity. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on male MULTI-tasking…if it really exists, other than getting a beer, getting the chips, turning on the TV, finding a football game, sitting on the couch, drinking the beer…..Wait, are you sure you weren’t at my house recently???!!!
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Karyn…. A post dedicated to male multi-tasking…. hmmmmm… you just might be onto something here! Stay tuned. I think that might be a worthy topic!
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hahaha too funny!
Are you saying I should cut my husband some slack because he forgot to take out the overflowing garbage but when I called him bitching, he said he was sorry and really meant to do it.
-or-
when the dog shreds the dirty kleenex it is okay for him to walk over it 16 times until I pick it up?
-because-
he ALWAYS remembers to bring me chocolate when he detects pms setting in.
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wow look who trained who.
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The answer is very simple. Men are incapable of the microclean, they can only do mini-maintenance.
Male people are taught from childhood that they are responsible for fixing things. Any self help book on opposite-gender relationships will tell the man of the couple that sometimes, his dear lady just wants a sympathetic ear, not suggestions on changes she should make. But the Male Person can’t help it contributing ideas for action – he’s wired to fix, fix, fix.
Of course some Male People have this stereotype reinforced by wives who keep telling them they promised to change the light bulbs, take out the trash and wire any new plugs in their marriage vows, but I digress…
And so while the Female Person sees the need for a Microclean, the Male Person is ever watchful for opportunities for Mini-Maintenance. This is important, you see, because doing Mini-Maintenance avoids having to do Major Maintenance, which is Mucho Moolah.
Hence you have household scenarios like this…
Full post on Microclean: http://www.ittybittycrazy.com/imported-data/2009/4/3/stuff-female-people-like-no-1-microclean.html
Full post on Mini Maintenance:
http://www.ittybittycrazy.com/imported-data/2009/5/21/stuff-male-people-like-mini-maintenance.html
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Wow enjoyed reading your blogpost. I submitted your rss to my reader!
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You’re so right about that one… I think men purposefully don’t do what we ask them ‘cos they know that we’ll eventually do it ourselves!
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Hi! I’m loving your blog! I’m so glad I found you through the Funny Women group on SheWrites.
This sooo reminded me of one of my own hubby experiences — the one where he gets to take care of the sick child while I’m away on the rare biz trip — I thought I might be bold and share it with you.
It’s Vomit, from my much neglected blog about family life, Don’t Put Lizards In Your Ears http://www.norinedworkin.com/blog/?p=220
Looking forward to reading more of the Hubby Diaries.
Norine
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Norine ~ Thanks for stopping by.. I’ll definitely check out your post!
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Reblogged this on The Hubby Diaries and commented:
In honor of #TBT, I share an older post from THD history every Thursday. In case you are wondering after you read this…. yes, hubby is still fantastic at only doing 1/2 of a chore!
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Sleepwalking through chores – so that’s how you get through them!
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